Brazilian navy threatens to blow up ghost ship

The Brazilian navy wants to sink a decommissioned aircraft carrier, despite strong concerns and objections from environmental organizations and the Brazilian Public Prosecution Service. The rusty sixty-year-old ship called São Paulo has been floating for months; it is not allowed to dock anywhere due to legal wrangling and an international conflict.

The originally French aircraft carrier from 1963 has been part of the Brazilian fleet since 2000, but the Brazilians now want to get rid of it. Plans to modernize the ship were abandoned years ago and the São Paulo was decommissioned in 2018. The logical next step would be to demolish the 33,000-ton colossus, but that turns out to be very complicated.

Like many ships from the 1960s, the aircraft carrier was full of asbestos. In the 1990s, about 55 tons of that carcinogenic substance were removed, but about 10 tons remained. That could not be removed because it is part of the ship’s construction. There are also harmful substances in the paint, wiring and fuel storage of the ship.

Two years ago, the São Paulo came into the hands of a Turkish company that wanted to dismantle the ship. The aircraft carrier left Rio de Janeiro for Turkey, but never arrived there. Once near the Mediterranean, it turned out that Turkey had withdrawn the permit to moor for fear of environmental damage. The ship then returned to Brazil.

Once back in Brazilian waters, it turned out that the São Paulo had become entangled in a maze of conflicting rules and prohibitions. Environmental agency Ibama had since withdrawn the export license due to concerns about the asbestos on board and the state of Pernambuco banned the São Paulo from docking because of the environmental risks. Local ports in turn said that the ship was not welcome for fear that it would be abandoned by the owner, resulting in high costs for the ports.

As a result of the wrangling, the ship has been wandering off the Brazilian coast in recent months. Until last month: the Turkish company warned it no longer had the resources to maintain the ship and threatened to abandon it at sea.

The Brazilian Navy subsequently moved it to international waters. According to the navy, the hull of the scrapped São Paulo had been damaged. As a result, the 266-meter-long ship could run aground or even sink, it sounded.

Brazilian journalists revealed over the weekend that the navy is now planning to scuttle the ship in international waters, to the shock of environmental groups and environmental agency Ibama. The Public Prosecution Service – also concerned about damage to the environment – tried to put a stop to that plan through the courts, but had to back down.

This clears the way for the navy to blow up the São Paulo. It is not yet clear whether that will happen. The navy has not yet responded to the court’s ruling and a Saudi company is now also reported to have come forward to buy and dismantle the discarded ship.