A court in the United Kingdom has found that Able UK, a United Kingdom-based ship dismantling and recycling firm that has brought four U.S. Navy ships to northeast England to be scrapped does not have the proper permit for the job.
The court found in favor of several local residents, and damaged Able’s plans to scrap the ships at its yard in Hartlepool, Great Britain.
The ships are part of a fleet of 13 retired vessels to be taken apart in Britain. A court order has prevented the remaining nine from being transported from Virginia to Britain.
Opponents of the controversial “Ghost Fleet” claim that dismantling the vessels could expose residents and sensitive wildlife sites to pollution, including PCBs and asbestos.
The residents' lawyer, David Wolfe, argued that Hartlepool Borough Council was wrong when it said the company's permit to dismantle "marine structures" allowed Able U.K. to scrap the ships.
Lawyers for Able U.K. and the council argued that the license's reference to "maritime structures" should include all manmade objects made for use at sea, including ships.
Able U.K. Managing Director Peter Stephenson said he would appeal. He added that the decision by the court ruling involving the company’s Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling facility as ‘very difficult to understand—and very frustrating’
“I obviously respect the judge’s ruling, but I have to say that I am sure I will not be alone in finding it hard to understand how it can be argued that the term ‘marine structures’ included in the planning permission for our facility apparently does not include what most people would regard as the most basic of marine structures—in other words ships. What I also find especially difficult to come to terms with is that the Graythorp facility was first developed to build ships—and ships have been built, repaired and dismantled there for over 50 years,” Stephenson added.Latest from Recycling Today
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