industrial services shipbreaking recycling port operations website www.ableuk.com able uk is a british industrial services company specialising in decommissioning of ships and offshore installations . contents 1 overview 2 history 3 notes 4 references 4.1 maps 4.2 further reading 5 external links overview edit able uk is a british industrial services company operating primarily in the marine decommissioning and recycling business . as of 2014 the company has a specialised dry dock with associated decommissioning facilities including landfill at seaton terrc teesside environmental reclamation & recycling centre note 1 with a 120 metres 390 ft entrance width capable of handling offshore oil equipment including steel jackets of fixed platforms heavy lift ship and other large ships including aircraft carrier sized vessels . the company also undertakes general demolition work . 1 in addition to the dock facility at seaton map 1 able uk also has as of 2014 sites with port facilities at or near billingham billingham reach note 2 quay and industrial estate ; map 2 port clarence clarence port river tees bankside development land ; map 3 and at middlesbrough middlesbrough port river tees quayside north with fabrication facilities ; map 4 also at the former south tees recycling centre . map 5 . 2 the company has non port sites at or near as of 2014 barnby dun the former thorpe marsh power station ; map 6 and at seaton seaton meadows landfill site . map 7 as of 2014 able uk is also promoting and planning two sites in the north of lincolnshire near the banks of the humber estuary . the able humber port consists of able logistics park is a logistic park of nearly 500 hectares 1 200 acres map 8 with an adjacent port development able marine energy park of over 360 hectares 890 acres with nearly 1 400 metres 4 600 ft of quay on the banks of the humber estuary . map 9 2 able logistics park received planning permission in 2013 . 3 able marine energy park received local planning permission in 2013 4 and sought a development consent order in 2014 ; 5 a planning decision was delayed due to objections from abp which were judicially rejected in 2015 . 6 history edit this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . august 2014 able uk was founded in 1966 by peter stephenson . 7 in 1995 able acquired the land of the closed thorpe marsh power station . 8 in 1996 able acquired the dock at graythorp renaming it the terrc teesside environmental reclamation and recycling centre together with the nearby seaton meadows landfill site . 9 in 2000 able acquired a fabrication facility in middlesbrough formerly davy offshore modules later slp engineering and odebrecht . renaming it able middlesbrough port . 10 ghost ships at able s recycling dry dock 2004 in 2003 the terrc facility became the subject of controversy when able obtained a 11 million contract from the us marine administration to dismantle 13 former us navy ships known as the ghost ships . due to the presence of asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls in the ships the action was opposed by some hartlepool residents and environmental groups . 9 11 able acquired a license to carry out the work from the environment agency in 2008 . 12 13 the delays caused by the objections to the process caused able the loss of the us contract for 9 of the 13 ships . note 3 in 2007 able was fined 20 000 for failing to follow proper procedures when disposing of asbestos . 14 by 2009 the four us ships had been received at the site together with the former french aircraft carrier clemenceau were sealed inside the dry dock which was drained and the ships scrapped . 9 other constructions decommissioned at the same time included the former jacket of an installation from the north west hutton oilfield . 15 dismantling work was completed in 2011 . 16 the terrc site was again the subject of a planning conflict in 2012 when hartlepool borough council rejected a planning submission to extend the height seaton meadows landfill made in an attempt to prevent spontaneous combustion of refuse which had been occurring . 17 18 19 in the 2009 2010 able published plans for a sites on the south humber estuary bank to provide a large logistics facility and facilities for wind farm equipment manufacture and installation ; 20 21 the able logistics park received planning permission in 2013 3 the 450 million estuary side port development able marine energy park amep received planning consent in december 2013 after having been delayed due to concerns over wildlife impact . 21 22 4 note 4 in 2014 proceedings for a development consent order note 5 for the amep plan were begun . 5 associated british ports abp submitted two petitions an objection and an alternative petition for amendment both based on objections to compulsory purchase of land it had recently announced the intention to develop for a hydrocarbon importation facility the immingham western deepwater jetty iwdj . 24 25 abp was subsequently accused of filing wrecking amendments at the initial hearings . 26 abp sought a modification of the plans shortening the amep quay by 515 metres 1 690 ft . 27 at hearings in april 2014 abp s petitions of objections were found to be valid requiring the development case to be heard by a committee of mps . 28 by july 2014 other issues with the plan had been withdrawn with the abp petitions to be heard at an inquiry in october . 29 in august 2014 work began on a 60 million environmental remediation scheme for amep to create an alternative wading bird habitats on the banks of the humber 30 enabling works began for the amep development in the same month with 15 million funding coming from a government grant . 31 in october 2014 the parliamentary committee rejected abp s petitions 32 and in february 2015 abp ended its legal opposition to the plans following rejection of a judicial review of the planning decision . 6 in mid 2015 dong energy agreed a mou with able over the construction of an offshore wind operations base at the planned able marine energy park ; 33 however in mid 2016 dong withdrew from plans to use the site as an operations hub following an internal review that concluded the site would not be operation in time for its uk east coast wind farm plans . 34 notes edit associate company alab environmental services ltd. operates the nearby seaton meadows landfill site . site of the former north tees power station . after the loss of the contract for 9 of the 13 ships the 4 remaining ships to be processed were uss canopus as 34 uss compass island ag 153 uss canisteo ao 99 and uss caloosahatchee ao 98 . 9 part of the site 111 hectares 270 acres had already been developed by able as a vehicle storage area in 2000 . 7 a development consent order was required by the uk government for any nationally significant infrastructure project nsip and once given allowed compulsory purchase of land . 23 references edit operations www.ableuk.com retrieved 26 august 2014 a b sites www.ableuk.com retrieved 23 august 2014 a b pa 2009 0600 planning permission to erect buildings and use land for purposes within use classes a3 c1 b1 b2 and b8 for port related storage and associated service facilities together with amenity landscaping and habitat creation including flood defences new railway siding estate roads sewage and drainage facilities floodlighting waste processing facility hydrogen pipeline spur and two 20 metre telecommunication masts planning application north east lincolnshire council 10 july 2013 a b mclauchlan karen 19 december 2013 able uk gets green light for 450m humber project www.gazettelive.co.uk a b able marine energy park development consent order 2014 www.parliament.uk a b laister david 9 february 2015 abp drops challenge in battle to block 450m able marine energy park grimsby telegraph a b more than able www.shippingandmarine.co.uk 28 september 2012 doncaster power station tower demolished by able uk www.thejournal.co.uk 17 april 2012 a b c d able uk s terrc yard on teesside bbc tees 23 november 2010 oil & gas case studies www.teesvalleyunlimited.gov.uk able middlesbrough port middlesbrough retrieved 26 august 2014 supplementary memorandum from the environment agency following hearing on 19 november 2003 select committee on environment food and rural affairs 2003 tighe chris 27 june 2008 battle won for hartlepool ship breaking yard ft ship breakers win permission to dismantle french aircraft carrier the guardian 2 july 2008 toxic fine for ghost ships firm bbc news 13 november 2007 teesside recycling centre on crest of a wave www.gazettelive.co.uk 19 may 2009 ghost ships work completed hartlepool mail 21 january 2011 landfill blaze spontaneous combustion hartlepool mail 3 april 2008 plans thrown out for landfill site hartlepool mail 19 july 2012 anger over bid to expand landfill site in seaton carew hartlepool mail 18 september 2013 project will create 5 000 jobs bbc news 3 june 2009 a b plans for 400m humber wind farm port unveiled bbc news humberside 8 july 2010 humber 450m marine energy park decision suffers new delay bbc news humberside 28 august 2013 drafting development consent orders pdf the planning inspectorate oct 2014 petitions against the able marine energy park development consent order 2014 www.parliament.uk coldwell jim 23 january 2014 abp jetty plan casts doubt over 450m humber able marine energy park hull daily mail laister david 8 april 2014 abp accused of filing wrecking amendments released documents from latest amep hearing reveal grimsby telegraph coldwell jim 31 january 2014 humber marine park row able uk labels abp claims misleading hull daily mail laister david 3 april 2014 updated further delay as able marine energy park dispute now to be heard by westminster committee grimsby telegraph kishtwari soraya 16 july 2014 frustration over further delays to able marine energy park plan grimsby telegraph whitehead harriet 15 august 2014 60 million bill to relocate birds from able energy park site scunthorpe telegraph laister david 1 august 2014 15m enabling grant welcomed as able uk holds firm on abp land deal at humber marine park grimsby telegraph humber estuary port development backed by mps bbc news humberside 23 october 2014 dong plans able offshore hub renews.biz 9 july 2015 dong spikes able offshore hub renews.biz 9 aug 2016 maps edit map all coordinates using osm map all coordinates using google map up to 200 coordinates using bing export all coordinates as kml export all coordinates as georss export all coordinates as gpx map all microformatted coordinates place data as rdf 54 38 01 n 1 11 31 w 54.63370 n 1.19191 w 54.63370 ; 1.19191 able seaton port able seaton port 54 35 15 n 1 15 40 w 54.58738 n 1.26121 w 54.58738 ; 1.26121 able billingham reach able billingham reach 54 35 03 n 1 12 56 w 54.58430 n 1.21560 w 54.58430 ; 1.21560 able clarence port able clarence port 54 34 54 n 1 13 13 w 54.58175 n 1.22036 w 54.58175 ; 1.22036 able middlesbrough port able middlesbrough port 54 34 49 n 1 11 55 w 54.58022 n 1.19860 w 54.58022 ; 1.19860 able south tees able south tees 53 34 45 n 1 05 13 w 53.57923 n 1.08700 w 53.57923 ; 1.08700 thorpe marsh power station site thorpe marsh power station site 54 38 34 n 1 11 30 w 54.64269 n 1.19163 w 54.64269 ; 1.19163 seaton meadows landfill seaton meadows landfill 53 40 43 n 0 15 43 w 53.67855 n 0.26185 w 53.67855 ; 0.26185 able logistics park able logistics parkable logistics park 53 39 15 n 0 13 44 w 53.65418 n 0.22886 w 53.65418 ; 0.22886 able marine energy park able marine energy park further reading edit etherington neil ; king andy 31 october 2013 able