Old aircraft carrier: Brazil sinks ship laden with toxic waste

Despite protests
“30,000-ton poison package”: Brazil sinks ailing aircraft carrier in the Atlantic

The aircraft carrier in 1994 when it was still owned by France

© AFP

Brazil sinks an aging aircraft carrier in the middle of the Atlantic. Environmentalists are appalled because the ship was loaded with toxic waste.

Despite protests from environmentalists, Brazil has sunk a highly ramshackle former aircraft carrier in the Atlantic. The six-decade-old warship was sunk in a “controlled” manner about 350 kilometers off the coast of the country on Friday afternoon (local time), the Brazilian Navy said. “The Brazilian Navy proceeded with the necessary technical competence and safety,” the statement said. The decommissioned aircraft carrier “São Paulo” had been taken to an area 350 kilometers off the Brazilian coast that legally still belongs to Brazil. At the selected location, the sea depth is around 5000 meters.

The former aircraft carrier has been adrift at sea off the state of Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil for several months. The Turkish company “Sök” bought it in 2021. But when the ship approached the Mediterranean from Rio de Janeiro, Turkey revoked permission to dock. It was brought back to Brazil, where it was also banned from docking because of the environmental risk. “Sök” threatened to abandon ship.

Brazil bought aircraft carrier 23 years ago – and has always had problems with it

The ship was in the service of the French Navy for 37 years under the name “Foch”. In 2000 it was bought by Brazil and renamed “São Paulo”. The aircraft carrier soon ran into problems, but modernizing it would have been too expensive – especially since a fire in 2005 further worsened its condition.

The Brazilian environmental protection agency Ibama said in January that the aircraft carrier was not carrying any toxic cargo, but contained insulating panels made of asbestos. The authority suggested disposing of the ship in an environmentally friendly way in an approved shipyard. Environmentalists have criticized the decision to sink it. Brazil’s announcement that it would sink it had sparked violent protests. Environmental organizations spoke of an “environmental crime”. Robin Wood described the former aircraft carrier as a “30,000-ton poison package”.

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