Page 23 from: January / February 2005
On the very day that Able UK
submitted a planning application
and Environmental Impact Assess-
ment (EIA) to its local borough coun-
cil in Hartlepool, the company’s
Chief Executive Peter Stephenson
expressed confidence that ship recy-
cling work would commence at its
so-called Teesside Environmental
Reclamation & Recycling Centre
(TERRC) by May this year.
The company at the centre of the
so-called ‘US ghost ships’ saga had
spent around a year preparing what it
describes as a ‘very detailed’ EIA. Mr
Stephenson tells Recycling Interna-
tional: ‘It confirms what we have been
saying all along – that we can do the
work without any impact on the local
ecology.’ He adds that there is no tech-
nical reason why ship dismantling
should not take place at TERRC.
Describing the protracted furore
over the US ships as ‘hell’ for his
company, he claims the delay in ap-
proving ship dismantling activities
has had a significant commercial im-
pact. ‘There have been lots of en-
quiries and we have had to reject
business,’ he reveals. ‘We
turned 17 ships away last
year.’
Reiterating his accusation
that environmental lobby
group Friends of the Earth
has been guilty of ‘scare-
mongering’ over its plans
to dismantle the US naval
vessels in Hartlepool, the
company contends that its
actions have reflected the
arguments of the Basel
Convention. It notes by
way of example: ‘The Con-
vention has called for na-
tions and the shipping industry to as-
sist in the improvement of the envi-
ronmentally sound management of
ship dismantling worldwide and the
need for countries to encourage the
development of domestic ship recy-
cling facilities. As far as we are con-
cerned, we welcome the decisions of
the Convention and we have demon-
strated that we are able to meet all
the requirements and objectives they
have set out.’
The TERRC facility
It was in July 2003 that Able UK
confirmed a contract with the Unit-
ed States Government’s Maritime
Administration (MARAD) involving
the recycling of 13 redundant mer-
chant vessels from the US National
Defense Reserve Fleet. Four vessels
are currently berthed at the TERRC
facility in Hartlepool, along with two
UK ships, where they are awaiting
dismantling in dry dock conditions.
According to Able UK, the TERRC
facility boasts a 25-acre dry dock lo-
cated close to the mouth of the River
Tees in north-east England; this is ca-
pable of accommodating ships up to
366 metres long with no limit on
width, or at any one time 15 ships
measuring 200 metres long by 24 me-
tres. The yard was purchased by the
Able Group of companies in 1997, al-
though the company has been in-
volved in decommissioning and waste
removal for over 30 years, specialis-
ing since 1985 in the handling of re-
dundant offshore structures, includ-
ing waste removal and disposal. ‘The
kinds of materials and wastes con-
tained within these vessels are very
similar to those found in the redun-
dant offshore structures and ships
which Able has been handling for al-
most 20 years – and at TERRC for the
past decade,’ it points out. ‘The facility
is fully equipped for on-site handling
of all such materials and wastes.’
Political support
While criticism of Able UK has
grabbed most of the headlines, the
company has also received high-level
support. The company’s local Member
of Parliament Frank Cook says the
House of Commons Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs Committee re-
port ‘exposes the cynical nonsense of
those who boasted of their “green” cre-
dentials but actually sought to under-
mine the efforts of those seeking the
very best environmental solution to
the thorny issue of ship dismantling’.
Also interesting from the wider
context, Britain’s former Secretary
of State for Trade and Industry Pe-
ter Mandelson – who is now EU
Commissioner for Trade – was quot-
ed in March last year as saying:
‘British firms and workers have the
experience and potential to recycle
UK ships in conditions that protect
employees, their communities and
the environment alike. Government
must now seize the chance to end
the mistakes of the past and to en-
courage a world-class ship recycling
industry that will create well-paid,
highly-skilled British jobs.’
S H I P B R E A K I N G
Recycling International • January/February 2005 23
Ready, willing
and Able
By its own admission, the last 18 months
has been ‘hell’ for Able UK, the company at
the centre of an international storm sur-
rounding the scrapping of redundant mer-
chant vessels from the US National Defense
Reserve Fleet. The following article reviews
latest developments in this saga and
reflects the company’s determination to per-
sist with its ship dismantling plans.
By Ian Martin
Able House, the company’s head office in
Billingham.
Four US ships berthed at Able’s TERRC facility in Hartlepool.
