PART of America's condemned "ghost fleet" could set sail for the North-East as early as this weekend, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Two ships in the obsolete fleet - branded an environmental disaster waiting to happen - have been cleared for the 4,000 mile journey.

Documents seen by The Northern Echo reveal that the ships have been given the go-ahead to leave their moorings in the James River, Virginia, and cross the Atlantic.

The decision by MARAD, the US Maritime Administration, has appalled environmentalists who are waging an international legal battle to stop the plan to send a total of 13 warships to Britain for dismantling.

But the decision will come as a huge relief to Able UK, of Hartlepool, which clinched the $17m deal last month.

The company faces massive fines unless the condemned ships leave the US by November 30.

Environmentalists said the news was a terrible blow to their hopes of stopping the deal. They accused the US Government of "rushing through" the paperwork in a bid to avoid a costly legal battle.

American campaign groups Earth Justice, the Basel Action Network (BAN) and the Sierra Club claim the plan violates a national law against exporting hazardous wastes.

They filed papers with the Environment Protection Agency to stop the ships leaving US waters on Tuesday.

But legal red tape means they must wait 60 days before filing a law suit that could bring the operation to a halt.

Six of the warships, containing lead, mercury, oil and carcinogenic poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are likely to be in the North-East before the law suit can be served.

Even if the action succeeds, only seven ships are likely to be affected.

Able UK confirmed that two of the ships, the Caloosahatche and the Canisteo, are expected leave for their 4,000 mile journey on Sunday or Monday. They will arrive at the group's Hartlepool yard in about three weeks.

Campaigners say the fleet will be setting sail before Able UK has been given planning permission.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) has warned Hartlepool Borough Council that it is legally obliged to insist on a full and comprehensive environmental impact assessment before considering the planning application.

The authority is not due to rule on whether it wants an impact assessment until Friday.

If it does - and FoE has threatened legal action if it does not - that only leaves weeks to carry out a study of the area, for councillors to consider it and decide on planning permission.

Last night, the authority played down the significance of the assessment.

It insisted a previous planning application granted by Teesside Development Corporation in 1997 allowed Able UK to accept the ships and permission was only needed to create a dry dock.

But FoE campaign director Mike Childs said: "It's astonishing that US authorities have given permission for these ships to leave the States despite the fact that there is no dry dock in the UK for them to come to.

"Further studies are also needed to assess the potential environmental and economic impacts should the ships break up during transit and on their journey around the UK coast."

Chairman of Northumbria Tourist Board Bob Pendlebury said: "It looks like whatever we do it will be too late.

"It seems that on an issue as important as this as much careful consideration as possible is needed.

"This is no way to convince people you are doing things with consideration of all issues because of the number of people it could affect if anything goes wrong."

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has yet to give permission to allow the ships to enter British waters and is still awaiting an independent surveyor's report on the state of the ships and further details of their passage.

A spokesman said: "This notification does not prejudice MCA's discussions with MARAD/Able UK and the independent checks the agency is making on the safety of these vessels and any environmental threat posed by the tows.

"The MCA is still analysing the information, risk assessments, passage plan and contingency plan provided by MARAD/Able UK, to ensure that any threat posed by these vessels is minimised and that our requirements are being met."

Supporters of the scheme point out that about 200 jobs will be created. This could grow if the region's reputation for recycling waste is marketed globally