Ghostly Dilemma For PM
Prime Minister Tony Blair was drawn into the "ghost ships" row last night as the vessels neared UK territorial waters.
by The Journal
5 November 2003 – An extraordinary meeting of Hartlepool Council yesterday backed a motion calling on Transport Secretary Alistair Darling to turn the ships back to the United States, a move backed by Hartlepool Mayor Stuart Drummond.
But last night, the Ministry for Transport said that under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995, Mr Darling had no powers over the ships outside of territorial waters. Inside territorial waters, action could only be taken if they posed a safety or pollution risk.
The four ships crossing the Atlantic are due to be dismantled at the Hartlepool yard of Able UK.
The Environment Agency has already asked Able to consider sending the ships back to the US.
Last night Shadow Environment Secretary David Lidington said: "The confusion at the heart of Government gets even worse over this. One part of Government says the ghost ships must return to the US. Another part of the same Government refuses to support these demands.
"Tony Blair is a North-East MP. If his ministers can't agree over how to resolve this environmental crisis he should knock heads together and make clear who in Government is in charge of sorting out this mess."
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