Press Releases - ABLE

COUNCIL AND ENVIRONMENT AGENCY CONFIRM APPROVALS FOR SHIPS CONTRACT
01/10/03

Able UK has today (October 1st) welcomed important steps forward in finalising arrangements for the plans to recycle American cargo vessels at its Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre (TERRC) at Graythorp.

The company’s Managing Director Peter Stephenson announced that Able had now received confirmation of all necessary approvals from both Hartlepool Council and the Environment Agency to enable it to proceed with the contract awarded by the United States Government’s Marine Administration (MARAD) for the recycling of 13 redundant merchant vessels from the US National Defense Reserve Fleet.

Said Mr Stephenson “We were always confident that we could meet all the planning and licensing requirements to enable us to proceed with this contract which will in itself create around 200 jobs and will also strengthen our position as one of the best facilities in the world for marine decommissioning work.

“I believe that the confirmation of approvals by the Council and the Environment Agency again show that the efforts by some groups, notably Friends of the Earth, to raise every possible objection to this contract have been nothing more than unjustified scaremongering over a proposal which they should actually be welcoming as clearly the best available option for the disposal of redundant ships.

“The reason we have been awarded the contract by MARAD is that here at TERRC we can provide facilities for the dismantling and recycling of these vessels in the most environmentally friendly manner. Contrast this with what happens to all too many vessels which end their days on the beaches of developing countries in the Far East, literally ripped apart with no proper controls or standards.

“I hope that the confirmation of the approvals we have now received from the local authority and the Environment Agency will enable us to move ahead as quickly as possible—and that they will reassure the public that the scare stories over recent weeks have been without any foundation.”

A court case involving MARAD and groups challenging the contract will be heard in the United States later today. MARAD has agreed that movement of the first vessels from their current berth on the James River in Virginia will not begin until the outcome of the case is known—hopefully by the end of this week.

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