Demand for full inquiry on 'muddle' over ghost ship deal
Government to look at U-turn over the US naval reserve ships after Conservatives take up issue, writes David Osler November 05 2003 Lloyds List BRITAIN'S government is to examine its U-turn over the controversial ghost ships scrapping deal with the US, following opposition Conservative Party demands for a full inquiry into the "almighty muddle". The Environment Agency initially approved a ?16m ($27.2m) contract signed by Hartlepool company Able UK with the US Maritime Administration, under which 13 US naval reserve ships would come to Britain for breaking. But the licence was withdrawn last week after a wrangle over planning permission for Able to build a dry dock. With four of the 13 vessels now on tow across the Atlantic, Marad is insisting that the project goes ahead. The whole issue has been marked by a flurry of protests from environmentalists, who point out that the ships were built with toxic substances including asbestos and PCBs. Speaking in the Commons on Monday, shadow environment secretary David Lidington demanded an urgent inquiry into what he called the "crisis". Mr Lidington said: "I think there will be near unanimity that a way needs to be found of disposing of these vessels safely without damage to the environment. "But how has the government and its various agencies got itself into this almighty muddle?" Labour environment minister Elliot Morley responded by saying there would be a "full evaluation" of the issues involved. When the agency first agreed the project, it was satisfied Able UK had the "technical and physical ability to deal with the ships in an environmentally sound manner", he insisted. But when doubts subsequently arose, the US authorities were contacted about the problems on October 3. Nevertheless, the ships sailed three days later. Mr Morley added: "The agency did act on the doubts that were emerging and advise that the ships should not leave until they were resolved." Hartlepool MP Peter Mandelson, a former cabinet minister, said Able had been chosen because of its high standards of environmental and employee safety. He said: "The world will be an environmentally cleaner and less hazardous place with the safe disposal of such ships where they can be expertly and professionally dealt with, as Greenpeace itself has observed." But campaign group Friends of the Earth called on the government to refuse to accept the ships, which should be dismantled in the US.
