Brazil sinks asbestos-laden ghost aircraft carrier that roamed the Atlantic Ocean

The ‘Sao Paulo’ could not enter any port because of the more than 600 tons of polluting materials it had in its hull

The Brazilian navy finally sank the aircraft carrier ‘Sao Paulo’ in the Atlantic Ocean after the scrapped ship spent five months in tow with the damaged briefcase, which in recent weeks became a ghost ship full of toxic waste. “The procedure was carried out with the technical competence and the necessary safety” to “prevent logistical, operational, environmental and economic damage to the Brazilian state,” the Brazilian authorities assured in a statement.

The sinking, which was authorized by federal justice, was carried out despite Brazil’s Office of the Attorney General issuing a new appeal on Thursday to prevent it on environmental grounds. The ‘Sao Paulo’ was sold for scrap to a Turkish company in 2022, but no port accepted it due to the toxic materials it carried in its hull components, and it hadn’t even been able to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and to enter the Mediterranean.

The ‘Sao Paulo’, which disappeared like a mass of toxic scrap, had a much more dignified origin. With a length of 266 meters, a capacity to accommodate 1,300 crew members and carry 30 fighter-bombers, it was one of two Clemenceau-class aircraft carriers built by France from 1957 for its navy. It was launched in 1959 and entered service in 1963 under the name ‘Foch’ (R-99). Top with his brother ‘Clemenceau’ (R-98) of the French military naval architecture of the moment, it was then a leading ship.

The ‘Foch’ was withdrawn from service as it was replaced by the much more modern ‘Charles de Gaulle’ and was sold to Brazil, which had to take over from its obsolete aircraft carrier ‘Minas Gerais’. The Brazilian Navy commissioned it on November 15, 2000, and it was in service until 2017. During all that time, it had to be updated several times and also suffered two serious fires, in 2005 and 2012. In 2017, the Navy announced announced that the ship would be demobilized and taken out of service, which formally took place on November 22, 2018, due to the prohibitive cost of the ongoing repairs the ship needs.

Although there was an initiative to convert the aircraft carrier into a floating museum, the ship was bought for scrapping by the Turkish shipyard Sok Denizcilikve Tic, for about $2 million. The ‘Sao Paulo’ was towed from Rio de Janeiro on August 4 last year with destination Turkey. The old aircraft carrier and its Dutch tug reached the coast of Morocco on August 26. But when they wanted to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, the Turkish government revoked the ship’s license to dock in Turkey after technicians from the Turkish Ministry of the Environment found that it had far more polluting elements on board than indicated in the according to Brazilian report. The amounts of asbestos were striking. It was declared 9.6 tons, the technicians estimated it must contain 600 tons of these and other hazardous substances.

The tug had to return to Brazil with the aircraft carrier, where it was also unable to enter any port for the same environmental reasons. Thus turned into a ghost ship in tow, the ‘Sao Paulo’ has been circling Brazilian waters, off the coast of Pernambuco, for several weeks, until the Turkish company has decided to “give the hull to Brazil”, as indicated by a comment.

In the end, the Brazilian authorities chose to sink it some 350 kilometers from the coast. The Brazilian Navy has accused the Turkish company that bought it to dismantle it and recycle its materials for not taking the necessary steps to get permission to tow it to port.

Source: La Verdad

Michael

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