Breaking up is the only way for toxic 'ghost ships'
TEESSIDE has just taken delivery of its latest "ghost ship", the 32,700 French aircraft carrier Clemenceau.
This particular vessel was deemed too toxic to deal with elsewhere and was, in fact, recalled by France from India because of toxic concerns.
Teesside has had a history of dealing with such ships, with four American vessels delivered in 2004.
When these ships were delivered there was a huge outcry when it was discovered that Britain appeared to be taking a leading role in scrapping and recycling such dangerous waste.
The company responsible has overcome many of the initial environmental concerns by introducing more safeguards, and the way now seems clear to do more business in the future.
The Clemenceau was originally launched in 1957 and was decommissioned in 1997.
Since then it has been mothballed while the authorities have been deciding its fate.
Inevitably there has been much opposition to bringing it to the United Kingdom.
Given that at some point this ship ought to be dismantled, I am curious as to what would have been an acceptable solution to the environmental lobby groups?
As ever the environmental arguments put forward are poorly reported and centre around the opposition to the proposal rather than offering a solution.
While being full of nasty chemicals and other toxic material such as asbestos, these ships don't actually carry any radioactive material.
What is more of a problem is the decommissioning of nuclear warships.
Several nuclear submarines that have been withdrawn from service are still awaiting their fate at dockyards around the country.
Scrapping these ships will be hugely expensive and problematic due to the residual radiation still on board.
I shall continue to watch developments on that front with interest.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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