A US court is expected to make a decision later today over attempts to prevent the first of the US ghost fleet setting sail for the North-East.

But Able UK, which is to dismantle the obsolete fleet at its Hartlepool base, yesterday confirmed it has won the necessary approvals for the work from the Environment Agency and local council chiefs.

It is now awaiting the result of a lawsuit filed in the US Federal Court by environmental groups in a bid to prevent the first vessels leaving their moorings in the James River, Virginia.

If the environmentalists succeed, they will have a further ten days to submit legal arguments about why the ships should not be allowed to sail.

Last night, Friends of the Earth said an assessment by the Environment Agency (EA) on which it based a decision to grant Able a modification to its waste management licence had been "rushed, sloppy and inadequate".

The EA said it was permitting an increase in the waste handling capacity at Able's Graythorp site from 24,500 tonnes to 75,000 tonnes per year after a "thorough assessment".

Craig McGarvey, of the EA, said: "The recovery facility at Teesside has been subject to stringent scrutiny and has been judged to have the capacity of carrying out the work while fulfilling all of our requirements to protect the environment."

It also revealed that the US Marine Administration (Marad), which is responsible for the ships, and the US Environment Protection Agency would visit Teesside on a "regular basis" to carry out checks.

A Hartlepool Borough Council spokesman said it had confirmed to the company that it did have planning permission for the dismantling and refurbishment of ships at the Graythorp site.

Able managing director Peter Stephenson said: "The efforts by some groups, notably Friends of the Earth, to raise every possible objection to this contract have been nothing more than unjustified scaremongering."

The movement of the first vessels from their current berth would not begin until the outcome of the US court case.

Durham County councillors will this morning discuss the issue after a presentation by their environment director Chris Tunstall and the EA.