As Rough As It May Seem,It's Still Steady As You Go...
HUNDREDS of people lined the coast to a huge aircraft carrier finally arrive in Hartlepool.
The former French Navy ship Le Clemenceau docked at Able UK's Graythorp site following a four-day journey.
Work on the £8.7m dismantling contract can now get underway following months of delays through poor weather and legal wrangles.
But the vessel – which is carrying 700 tonnes of asbestos contaminated material – may not be the last ship to enter Able UK's Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre (TERRC) before the dam is closed to create a dry dock.
Able UK chiefs have confirmed that they are continuing negotiations that could see a further two British ships brought to the facility to be dismantled.
Hundreds of people lined the seafront at Seaton Carew while many more headed to the Headland and the North Gare for the best view of the ship coming in yesterday.
Dozens of English and French journalists and television crews were at Able UK's site, on the outskirts of Hartlepool, to witness the vessel being towed in.
Offshore tug the Anglian Earl had towed the vessel from France to the Tees Turning Circle, where it was then brought into the Seaton Channel by four river tugs.
The whole operation took a couple of hours before the ship was berthed inside the huge dry dock shortly before 4pm.
The dismantling of Le Clemenceau - which is also known as the Q790 - is the largest ship recycling project ever undertaken in Europe.
The 32,000 tonne ship, which was towed from Brest Harbour, in France, is berthed between four American and three British vessels which are waiting to be recycled.
The actual dismantling process is expected to start after Easter and last for around a year with the creation of 200 jobs, many of which expected go to people from Hartlepool.
Peter Stephenson, the chairman and chief executive of Able UK, told the Mail: "This is a very proud day for myself and everyone at Able and I would hope it is a proud day for the town of Hartlepool.
"This is the end of a very long five year process and we are delighted to finally get the ship in.
"Hundreds of jobs have been lost to the area over the years as a result of the delays, but we are hoping we can now move forward."
Launched in 1957, Le Clemenceau was the mainstay of the French naval fleet and sailed more than one million nautical miles before being withdrawn from active service in 1997.
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