According to some, they are a disaster waiting to happen. Yet the arrival of unwanted warships from America will create much-needed jobs in the North-East.

Nigel Burton looks at the risks - and the benefits - of dismantling the Ghost Fleet.

FROM a distance the James River Reserve Fleet looks rather impressive. Almost 100 ships sit idly beside each other at anchor, straddling the shipping lane between Hampton Roads and Richmond, Virginia.

Together they total almost twice as many ships as Britain's Royal Navy can boast and, according to the US government, they can be readied for active service should a national crisis arise. The truth is somewhat different.

Although the fleet may look the part, according to a recent US government audit, more than 70 will never return to active duty no matter how pressing the emergency. They are without hope and, according to appalled environmentalists, they represent a disaster just waiting to happen.

Men still go aboard these sleeping giants. They patrol the decks - some more than 400ft long - and go below to keep a check on the condition of the rotting hulls. The US Maritime Administration (MARAD) employs teams of machinists, naval engineers, riggers and electricians to keep the fleet afloat.

Locals call the James River Reserve the Ghost Fleet. Why? Because these are the vessels nobody wants and nobody cares about anymore.

The only people who use them are the US special forces, who sometimes train aboard, and film crews looking for cheap sets. Most recently, a movie called Virus, featuring Jamie Lee Curtis fighting monsters from outer space, was shot aboard the Vandenberg, a former Air Force guided missile tracking ship now listing precariously to starboard.

Once they were religiously maintained; the rust sanded down, the damaged metal beneath repainted to hold back the ravages of nature.

When the local newspaper visited last year it was shocked by the state of the fleet. They lie creaking in the wind, the paintwork hanging off the metalwork in great flapping chunks, the decks covered in excrement from sea birds that, in some places, is deep enough to suck in a man's shoe up to his ankle.

Incredibly, some of these vessels were apparently abandoned with such indecent haste that they now resemble some kind of hideous Marie Celeste. The Mormac Wave, a 41-year-old retired cargo carrier, still has the old logbook open on the bridge that details its final voyage undertaken in 1982. Two decades ago this ship was capable of sailing from mainland America to Cape Town and Mozambique in Africa.

But the crew, it seems, couldn't wait to leave the Mormac Wave to its fate. Maybe that's why no one bothered to clear up the old coffee mugs that can still be seen perched atop maps of the South Atlantic (and, in case anyone forgets, that part of the world was a busy place in 1982 because Britain and Argentina were disputing some half-forgotten islands called the Falklands).

Now the Mormac Wave bobs in the James River like all the others waiting for someone to decide what should be done. Time hasn't been kind. As well as the ravages above decks it's what lies below the waterline that is more worrying. Heavy oil has leaked from holding tanks and mixed with water to create a kind of toxic sludge that now lines the bottom of the ship. It's what environmentalists fear most. If it ever spilt from the ship's belly that black syrup would wash ashore, coating the vegetation and the birds that feed and nest there.

Until recently, the Mormac Wave and others like it was the US government's problem.

Once upon a time these old wrecks were sold to the highest bidder. Usually they went to be broken up in yards far away in places like China or Bangladesh. This came to an end when President Clinton banned the export of such ships. But now the ban has been lifted again and some of the Ghost Fleet may soon be heading across the Atlantic to Hartlepool, on Teesside.

MARAD has sealed a $17.8m deal with a New York company, Post Service Remediation Partners (PSRP), that will see 13 vessels being towed 4,500 miles to England for dismantling at the yard operated by Able UK, at Graythorp. As part of the deal, PSRP also gets to buy two more modern uncompleted oil tankers at an advantageous price. It is free to sell these vessels on at a profit.

The 13 vessels in the fleet include the Mormac Wave (at 9,964 tonnes one of the smaller ships) and another vessel, the USS Donner, which has already been the subject of a pollution scare.

The Donner lost around 1,000 gallons of fuel in August 2000, creating a slick two miles long and half a mile wide. Experts found that the oil had leaked from a hole in the hull and MARAD had to foot a $250,000 clean-up bill.

Ten of the 13 ships to be scrapped are on MARAD's high priority list - vessels that are considered in such poor condition that immediate action is required to address environmental concerns.

Environmentalists say the threat of oil pollution is the least of Hartlepool's problems. The official contract with PSRP says the hazardous materials identified in the 13 ships include "but are not limited to: asbestos, PCBs, mercury, lead, oils/fuels and other regulated materials". PCBs, the short form for poly-chlorinated biphenyls, are used for insulation, cables, ventilation ducts, gaskets, sound deadening materials, paint and rubber aboard the ships. Studies have linked these chemical compounds with cancer and they are notoriously difficult to deal with.

Friends of the Earth says Britain shouldn't be taking America's dirty washing. A spokesman said: "We think it's an appalling idea to tow these old ships thousands of miles, risking one or more of them sinking en route, just because America doesn't want to do the job itself. The US is just exporting pollution.

"Together the vessels on the James River hold 7.7 million gallons of fuel; about the same amount as the oil tanker Exxon Valdez spilled off Alaska in 1989. No wonder the Americans want rid of them."

Able UK and PSRP reckon the Greens are simply worried because they don't - or won't - understand the care and planning that has gone into the bid.

When the ships are cleared for departure they will be lashed together in twos and towed across the Atlantic in convoy. The contractors have agreed to hire a specialist oil spill management company which will be available round the clock to respond should the unthinkable happen and one of the ships leak or even sink.

When they arrive on Teesside, the 13 strong fleet will be moored and continuously monitored prior to being dry-docked in Able's dismantling basin. The contract specifies that provision must be made for bad weather and containment in the event of an oil leak from any of the vessels. Monitoring must include an alarm system to alert the company if any start taking on water and on-site security to keep watch for signs of trouble.

In addition, Able UK must draw up a dismantling schedule for each ship stating exactly how it plans to dispose of hazardous waste. This will include an inventory of all chemicals, compounds and other agents that may pose problems.

Ironically, as resistance appears to grow in the UK, over in America homegrown dismantlers are unhappy that the contract went to Hartlepool. Some domestic scrappers even threatened court action, claiming MARAD had sold US jobs down the river. Richard Jaross, vice president of Esco Marine Inc, a Texas based dismantler, says of the deal: "It's wrong. We need jobs in this country. Now, for some reason, they're just going to dump them overseas."

Able reckons the contract will lead to the creation of 200 jobs on Teesside and, with a contract for another six high-priority vessels likely to be awarded before the end of the year, holds out the hope of even more. These are not jobs at any price, asserts the company, rather work created by a contract that could make Britain a world leader in maritime disposal.

Environmentalists preparing to greet the Ghost Fleet with protests and banners will be praying they are correct.