Pollution fears raised over ‘ghost ships’

Date:25/09/03

By Martin Banks

MEPS this week voiced concern about the pollution threat posed by a fleet of dilapidated US Navy ships which are due to be decommissioned at a British yard. On the way to their destination, they will pass through Irish, French and Belgian waters.

The 13 ships are heavily polluted with asbestos and other dangerous chemicals.

They are due to arrive at a dockyard near Hartlepool, north-east England, later this month amid warnings from Green MEPs that they risk bringing an environmental "disaster" in their wake.

Seven years ago, the then US president Bill Clinton ruled that the American navy's "ghost fleet" of 120 decomposing hulks could not be scrapped in developing countries because their pollution and toxic loads risked the lives of shipyard workers.

But a British company, AbleUK, has signed a €17million contract to dismantle the most fragile vessels at its Teesside yard. The firm will remove the ships from the James river in Virginia, where they have been slowly rusting for the past 15 years. As part of the deal, it will receive two almost-complete oil tankers from the US government.

One of the vessels is almost 60 years old. The 12,000-tonne supply ship Canisteo, launched in July 1945, saw service during the Cuban missile crisis and the Korean War.

Five members of the Greens-European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament this week wrote to Margot Wallström and Loyola de Palacio, the environment and transport commissioners respectively, urging them to consider the "potentially devastating" impact the vessels may have on EU coastal areas.

The letter was signed by Caroline Lucas (UK), Patricia McKenna (Ireland), Belgian deputies Paul Lannoye and Jan Dhaene and Marie-Anne Isler-Beguin (France).

Lucas said: "Bearing in mind the terrible damage that Erika and Prestige did to Europe's coastline, the Commission has a duty to fully investigate whether the importation of these ships poses a risk to the environment.

"I believe they do and so does the person who wants to get rid of them - the disposal contract requires that an oil spill management company must be retained during the towing.

"We cannot and should not take chances with our waters."

She added: "The importation poses another potential threat to Europe's environment. The proposed dry dock where the ships are to be dismantled has yet to receive planning permission, has yet to receive a decision on whether it needs an environmental impact assessment and has yet to prove that it will not threaten wildlife sites that are protected under EU law.

"Before these leaky ships leave America for European waters, the Commission needs to look seriously at the potentially devastating impact their importation could have on the environment."

The Irish government, Scottish executive and Friends of the Earth have also expressed concern about the possible threat from the ships.

The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency is expected to decide whether the ships are in a fit state to enter British waters next week.

Meanwhile, a report on the Prestige disaster off the Spanish coast was presented to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Monday.

The report, by Dutch Liberal Dirk Sterckx, condemns the action of some member states who, in response to the disaster, have sought to ban vessels carrying hazardous goods within 320 kilometres of their coasts. He says such vessels will be at much greater risk if they run into difficulties as a result.

The report also calls on the Commission and member states to "make every effort" to encourage re-flagging of ships to EU registers and consider setting up a European register of shipping.

A UK company has signed a €17 million contract to dismantle 13 dilapidated US navy ships which are heavily polluted with asbestos and other dangerous chemicals. Green MEPs have warned that the ships could cause an environmental disaster as they pass through Irish, French and Belgian waters.