Able 'confident' over ghost fleet

Two of the vessels are due to dock in the UK on Wednesday

The businessman behind the controversial deal to recycle the so-called "ghost fleet" says he is confident he will win the legal battle to carry out the contract.

The first two decommissioned US vessels are expected to arrive off Able UK's Hartlepool yard on Wednesday.

Able UK managing director Peter Stephenson said his facilities to decommission the ships were more than capable of doing the job safely.

He has also won the support of elected mayor of neighbouring Middlesbrough, Ray Mallon, who visited the site on Tuesday.

But Hartlepool's elected mayor - former football mascot Stuart Drummond - has already called for the ships to be turned around.

I think the courts will see common-sense and all 13 vessels will come here to be dismantled Ray Mallon, Middlesbrough mayor

A High Court injunction prevents any work from beginning until legal challenges are heard next month.

Mr Stephenson said: "We have got a number of legal advisers and at the moment everything we are hearing is fully supportive of our position. We feel very comfortable."

He agreed the vessels did contain asbestos but denied they contained any significant levels of PCB chemicals and described the current situation as a "fiasco".

Mr Mallon said despite being a supporter of Friends of the Earth he believed the organisation was wrong to oppose this deal.

He said he considered Able UK to have the necessary expertise to carry out the work safely but denied "poking his nose" into Hartlepool's affairs, claiming the issue affected the whole of the Tees valley.

Public health

Mr Mallon said: "I think the courts will see common-sense and all 13 vessels will come here to be dismantled. This dock is state of the art."

Able has a contract to break up the 13-strong fleet of vessels, but a judge in Washington has prevented nine from setting sail.

A decision will be made about them in April 2004.

The Environment Agency (EA) said it would be making regular checks on the vessels once they have docked to make sure no dismantling takes place.

But the agency's chief executive said the ships posed no greater risk to public health than other vessels going in and out of British waters daily.