HUNDREDS of people flocked to vantage points around the Teesside coast to watch as the 33,000-tonne Clemenceau silently made her way through Teesport and into Able UK’s Graythorpe site, near Seaton Carew.

It was the final leg of her very last journey after leaving her home port of Brest, in France, on Tuesday.

Assessment of the vessel will begin today, with dismantling expected to take place this summer – providing about 200 jobs at Able’s Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre (TERRC) over the next year.

Up to 92 per cent of the vessel will be recycled.

Yesterday, as the Clemenceau, now known as the Q790 in France, slowly inched towards her resting place, Able’s chairman and chief executive Peter Stephenson watched with scores of reporters and photographers from across England and France.

“This is an important day for our company and the region as a whole,” he said.

“This was seen throughout the world as a highly-significant contract and the fact that it has come to our facility demonstrates that we are recognised as a world leader in the field of ship and marine structures recycling.

“It is to the credit of the French government that they recognised the importance of ensuring that the Q790 should be recycled at a facility where the work will be undertaken safely and under the best available environmental conditions.”

He said France had set an example to ship owners across the globe that vessels should be dismantled responsibly and not just abandoned on the beaches of developing countries.

Among those watching yesterday was Lepine Didier, from the French navy’s fleet support service, whose responsibility had been to see that the vessel arrived safely on Teesside.

He said Able had bid for the £8m dismantling contract, along with four other companies, two of them from France.

He said: “After negotiations, Able UK was chosen because it was seen as the best performing in terms of protection to the environment, safety of workers and its capacity to keep under control the whole process.

“The Clemenceau is no more. It is now the Q790 – it is waste. The Clemenceau is now in the memories of the men that used to live aboard the vessel.”

Despite a police presence outside Able’s gates yesterday, no protestors arrived to disrupt Clemenceau’s arrival.

But environmental campaigners have battled for years to prevent the ship from coming to the region over fears of asbestos and other toxins on board.

The vessel had been denied entry into a number of countries for safety reasons, but the Health and Safety Executive granted Able an exemption to the asbestos regulations permit, and the Environment Agency gave the contract its blessing.

At Graythorpe dock yesterday, Bob Pailor, the Environment Agency’s environment manager, said Able and the UK were leading the world on best practice at ship dismantling.

“It’s the end of a long process of five years to make sure the project has been evaluated and permits have been issued with controls to make sure that dismantling takes place safely,” he said.

“We have consulted and we have taken into account the fears expressed and we are safisfied that the permit we have issued has controls in place.

“We think the UK has the most stringent conditions possibly in the world.”

And Stockton North MP Frank Cook praised the determination and patience of Mr Stephenson.

He said: “Peter Stephenson is doing the world a favour and creating employment in the North-East at the same time.”