The Environment Agency (EA) has urged the government to create a ship recycling policy following the legal battles surrounding the “ghost ship” saga.
In a paper to its board meeting in Southampton, the EA said is needed to improve co-ordination on the protection of wildlife and improve its communication channels with the government and the general public, said a report.
Legal rows broke out in 2003 when four highly-polluted former US navy ships arrived in Hartlepool for dismantling and recycling at Abel UK's Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre.
It is believed that Beazley underwrote the ship's journey by tug from their moorings in Virginia, US, as reported in Insurance Times.
The ships contain asbestos, carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and up to half a million tonnes of marine diesel oil.
Abel UK has been told it cannot carry out any work until waste management and panning regulations have been met, said a report.
But the EA said: “The agency considers that the transport of ships did not pose a threat to the environment or human health, and indeed no harm has occurred.”
