Toxic Ship Deal Prompts EU Inquiry
by John Vidal and Andrew Osborne, The Guardian
4 September 2003 (Brussels) – A deal to import 13 rusting and heavily contaminated ships to Teesside for dismantling was condemned yesterday by the EU transport commissioner's office which pledged an inquiry into whether the £10.8m contract breached European law.
As the row escalated over the plan - revealed by the Guardian yesterday - to dismantle in Hartlepool the dilapidated ships from the US "ghost fleet", Gilles Gantelet, spokesman for the EU transport commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, called for an end to such voyages.
He said: "We don't want to become the United States' dustbin. We're talking about ships that are almost 60 years old. We don't want them in our waters. We'll have to look into this case more closely but we consider it to be very dangerous to take the risk of polluting the sea for commercial reasons."
The British firm involved revealed yesterday it had been so concerned about the condition of two vessels that it refused to tow them across the Atlantic.
But while Peter Stephenson, the managing director of AbleUK, admitted the company had requested a change in the contract with the US government, he denied claims by American salvage experts that the other ships were in a more dangerous condition.
Dismissing fears that the Atlantic crossing might break them up or that Teesside might be polluted, he said: "There have been three surveys done. There is only a minimal risk to the river Tees. There is no more risk to the marine environment during transportation than for any other ship on the high seas. They will have no cargoes, and although there is asbestos in the engine rooms, they will carry very little oil." He said the first six vessels would leave the James river in Virginia in two weeks, and the remaining seven would follow next year.
The transport department's coastguard agency is still waiting for detailed environmental assessments of the ships and contingency plans for the four-week voyage.
Mr Stephenson told BBC Radio Cleveland that the ships would be put into a "wet berth" behind an oil boom on arrival.
The Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, Norman Baker, said: "It is disgraceful that a developed country such as the United States is shirking its environmental responsibilities and shipping dodgy chemicals to Britain.
"Britain should not be used as a rubbish dump for dangerous chemicals from the US or any other country."
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