Status: 03.02.2023 4:20 p.m
Brazil plans to sink a former warship in the Atlantic. The authorities see this as the only chance to safely get rid of the aircraft carrier. The ship contains tons of toxins, according to environmental organizations.
The Brazilian authorities want to sink a highly ailing aircraft carrier in the Atlantic. In view of its condition, this is the only way to safely get rid of the former flagship ship of the French army, the Navy and the Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday.
The decision is considered highly controversial: According to environmental organizations, the 266-meter-long ship contains tons of asbestos, paint and other toxic waste.
“30,000 ton poison package”
The Brazilian Navy announced two weeks ago that it had towed the ship in the Atlantic. However, she emphasized that in view of its poor condition and the “increased risk” for the environment, it should no longer be allowed into a Brazilian port or even into Brazilian territorial waters.
Several organizations then expressed fears of an “environmental crime”. If Brazil “deliberately” sinks the ship, “it would be equivalent to an environmental crime commissioned by the state,” said the non-governmental organization Shipbreaking Platform. The environmental organization Robin Wood described the former aircraft carrier as a “30,000-ton poison package”.
Before the turn of the millennium, the aircraft carrier was still in use for the French Navy.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
Prosecutor’s complaint dismissed
The six-decade-old warship has been wandering the Atlantic for months. Originally it was to be towed to Turkey for scrapping, but when it was off Gibraltar the Turkish authorities withdrew its entry permit.
Brazil allowed the aircraft carrier to return, despite or because of the observed “worsening damage” to the ship’s hull – but not into any port. After the ship lay at the port of Suape in northeastern Brazil for several months, the Turkish shipyard threatened to abandon it and leave it adrift in Brazilian waters.
The Brazilian environmental agency Ibama, which is responsible for compliance with the Basel Convention on the transboundary disposal of hazardous waste, called on the Brazilian Navy to intervene. The Navy and Ministry of Defense then decided to allow the ship to be sunk. The risk that it would otherwise go under uncontrolled is simply too great. A lawsuit by the Brazilian public prosecutor’s office against the plans had previously been rejected by a court in the state of Pernambouc.
Brazil bought warship from France
The former “Foch” was in the service of the French Navy for 37 years. In 2000 she was bought by Brazil and renamed “São Paulo”. The ship soon ran into problems, but modernizing it would have been too expensive – especially since a fire in 2005 further aggravated its condition. Brazil decided to get rid of it.
In April 2021, the Turkish shipyard Sök Denizcilik bought the huge ship to cannibalize the scrap metal. A Dutch tugboat drove the “São Paulo” through the sea at the expense of the shipyard.
According to the Navy, the ship is now 350 kilometers off the Brazilian coast in an area with a sea depth of 5,000 meters. This is the “safest area” to sink it. It was initially unclear when this should happen.