Brazil’s navy said it sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean, off its northeast coast, despite warnings from environmentalists that the rusting ship built by France in the 1960s would pollute the sea and the marine food chain.
The aircraft carrier, which weighs 32,000 tons, has been at sea for three months after Turkey refused entry for it to be dismantled for recycling because it posed a risk to the environment and the ship was towed to Brazil.
The Navy said in a statement that it subjected the aircraft carrier to a “planned and controlled sinking” late Friday evening, which would “avoid the Brazilian state logistical, operational, environmental and economic losses.”
It added that it sank the hull of the ship “Sao Paulo” in Brazilian territorial waters, 350 km off the coast, where the sea is five thousand meters deep, a site that was chosen to mitigate the impact of the operation on fishing and ecosystems.
Representatives of the federal prosecutors and Greenpeace have asked the Brazilian government to stop the dumping, saying it is “toxic” because of the hazardous materials, which include nine tons of asbestos.
The “Clemenceau” class aircraft carrier served in the French Navy for nearly four decades, like the “Foch” which is capable of carrying 40 warplanes.
Defense expert Pepe Resende said the Brazilian Navy bought the aircraft carrier for just $12m in 1998, but it needed an $80m refurbishment that was never done.
After it was decommissioned, a Turkish marine recycling company bought the hull for $10.5 million, but it was forced to tow the tanker back across the Atlantic when Turkey denied it entry to its shipyard.
The Brazilian Navy said that it had asked the company to repair the carrier in a Brazilian shipyard, but after an examination showed that water was entering it and that it was at risk of sinking, the Navy prevented the ship from entering Brazilian ports, then decided to sink it.
