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Picture of the first of the 58 year old former US navy ships at the centre of a legal and environmental row arriving on the River Tees.

The rusting 15,000 tonne former US Navy Reserve vessel Caloosahatchee arrived on Wednesday 12th November 2003.

Mike Childs, UK campaigns director for environmental pressure groups Friends of the Earth said: We don't want these ships in the UK. America has the capacity to deal with its own waste and the moral obligation to do so.

Able UK refutes FoE's claims over the risks posed by the vessels, arguing that Oil tankers that regularly enter the Tees bearing crude oil pose greater risks.