CAMPAIGNERS battling to stop a rusting so-called ghost fleet from being scrapped in the North-East have hailed a decision to carry out some of the work in the US.

Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth said the decision by the US Maritime Administration (Marad) to dismantle three vessels in Texas because they were a high priority could signal a turning point in the saga.

Phil Michaels, a lawyer with Friends of the Earth, said the decision was significant.

He said: "I hope this shows that the tide in the US is turning and the legitimate pressure brought by environmental groups is causing the authorities to reconsider their position.

"It gives a lie to the story that there is not enough capacity in the US to carry out the work on these ships when it is quite clear that is not the case."

However, Peter Stephenson, managing director of Able UK, in Hartlepool, which has a contract to scrap 13 former US naval ships, said: "This makes no difference at all.

"Because we have lost a year to legal delays, they Marad approached us and asked if they could amend the contract by taking three priority ships and giving them to US contractors before changing them for another three."

Able has four of the ghost fleet moored in its Graythorp dock yard but is unable to begin work on them until it wins fresh planning permission and relevant permits from the Environment Agency.

The remaining nine, which form part of its contract with Marad, are being held in the US subject to the outcome of a legal action being heard by a US court on August 6.

Mr Stephenson said Able expected it could begin work on the four vessels it now has in storage by December.

The remaining nine are unlikely to arrive in the UK until next year at the earliest, even if a speedy remedy to the legal situation is found.

Marad has until September 2006 to get rid of about 150 ships in all from the decommissioned Navy reserve fleet, which contain tons of oil, asbestos, lead and toxic chemicals.

Read more about the Ghost Ships campaign here.