Press Releases - ABLE

MAJOR RECYCLING CONTRACT PROVES TERRC POTENTIAL

1st July 2008

Confirmation of the potential for Teesside to become a word-class centre for ship recycling has come again today with the announcement from the French Ministry of Defence that it has awarded the contract for the dismantling of a former aircraft carrier to Able UK Ltd.

It is expected that the vessel, the former Clemenceau—now known as the Q790—will arrive at Able UK’s TERRC (Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre) at Able Seaton Port, Graythorp, later this summer and remediation and recycling work will take place alongside other vessels already berthed at the facility—including four vessels from the American National Defense Reserve Fleet and three UK ships.

Launched in 1957, the Clemenceau was the mainstay of the French naval fleet and sailed over a million nautical miles before being decommissioned in 1997. The vessel is 238 metres long with a beam of 31.7metres. When fully loaded she weighed 32,700 tons.

Said Mr Stephenson “We have always reasoned that, given the opportunity, TERRC would lead the way in recycling ships to the highest possible environmental standards, this has been underlined with the decision by the French authorities that we should undertake the work on the Clemenceau which will be the biggest ship recycling project so far handled by any European yard.

“With the largest dry dock in the world, we can easily undertake the work on the Clemenceau and other vessels at TERRC whilst continuing with other projects, such as the assembly work for the SeaDragon semi submersible drilling rig project and construction of wind turbines. Since gaining planning approval last November, we have moved rapidly ahead with developing the facility—for instance our two new deep water quays 10 & 11, which are 312m long providing up to 20m of water, will be complete this year.

The granting of our Waste Management Licence, the clearance by the Health and Safety Executive for the Q790 and the confirmation of the award of the Q790 contract justify the huge efforts and resources that have been invested in this area at the forefront of an industry which has enormous potential for growth in the years ahead.

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