London, Nov 10: Two toxin-tainted former US Navy vessels made their way today under tow through the English Channel, one of the world's busiest waterways, after plans for their controversial break-up at a British shipyard were suspended by the government. "They are in the channel, on the British side," a British Coastguard spokesman at Falmouth, in Cornwall, southwest England, said as the Canopus and Caloosahatchee headed towards Hartlepool, northeast England.
They were among 13 aging naval ships that were to be recycled by a British company, Able UK, under a contract with the US government -- amid an outcry from environmentalists over toxic traces on board each of them.
French officials expected the "ghost ships," built in the 1940s, to pass the narrowest point in the channel, off the white cliffs of Dover on the British side and Cap Gris Nez on the French side, about mid-afternoon today.
Last week Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, citing EU and international law, effectively suspended the break-up of the ships by announcing that they would spend the winter in British waters before returning next year to US. Bureau Report