About 50 jobs are expected to be created after Able took delivery of enormous modules at its Seaton Port, in Graythorp, on the outskirts of Hartlepool.

Three huge barges hauled the modules from BP's North West Hutton platform to TERRC with another three scheduled to arrive in the future.

The two-year project is one of the biggest-ever oil offshore oil platform dismantling contracts handled by Able at its TERRC (Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre) facility.

Able UK chairman Peter Stephenson said: "A project of this kind is a challenging and complex operation. We have worked closely with BP and Heerema over a number of years preparing for this." The first phase of the dismantling process saw the 20,000-ton topside structures removed from the platform by a heavy lift vessel. They were then placed on barges for the journey to TERRC.

Mr Stephenson said: "We will receive the main steel jacket structure next summer and it will provide considerable employment for a two years."

The 37,000-ton West Hutton platform was installed in 1981. It can be found around 90 miles north east of the Shetland Islands. It had accommodation and facilities for more than 200 people and a production capacity of 130,000 barrels a day.

The field stopped production in January 2003 and in 2006 BP announced that the offshore removal and transportation would be undertaken by Heerema Marine Contractors, with Able UK undertaking the recycling and disposal of the structures at TERRC.

Mr Stephenson added: "The work is the same as we have undertaken in dealing with many redundant offshore structures over the past 20 years.

Work to scrap the ghost ships will create an immediate 170 full-time jobs in the town.

Able UK has secured the last licence needed to start ship recycling at Graythorp, and work is expected to start in three to four weeks.
Over the next two years, the company hopes to recruit up to 1,000 workers.

The Environment Agency licence brings to an end a bitter five-year battle by the company to secure permission to scrap redundant vessels at the Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre (TERRC) site.