The old aircraft carrier “Foch” roams the sea without a port to receive it

Aircraft carrierFochformer flagship of the French Navy, which became Sao Paulo In 2000, when he passed into the hands of Brazil, he wandered the sea in search of a port of refuge, risking ending up on the ocean floor.

brazilian navy announced last Friday that it was mooring its old hull, full of asbestos, paint and other toxic waste, at a point in the Atlantic Ocean 315 kilometers off the coast of Brazil to keep the ship from drifting.

The press release clarified that, given its state of degradation and “high risk” to the environment, it would not allow its return to port or Brazilian territorial waters.

Former aircraft carrier, 37 years in service french navywas brought there by a Dutch tug hired by a Turkish shipyard Juice Denizcilik, who bought São Paulo in April 2021 to scrap it. But due to the lack of a port to receive it, the Turkish company threatened to leave it to its fate.

Environmental groups are warning of the risk that an old ship built in the late 1950s in Saint-Nazaire in western France will end up on the ocean floor. They fear, in particular, “flooding” by the Brazilian authorities.

Brazilian Navy “She is poised to commit a major environmental crime at sea,” warns Jim Puckett, director of the Basel Action Network (BAN), saying in a statement that he fears she will “sink” the hull “under false pretenses.”

“Toxic Package”

“It is worrying that there is a 30,000-ton toxic package at sea, the recipient of which we do not know,” warns the association. Robin DeBois.

And environmental groups are calling for a new president of Brazil, a leftist Luis Inacio Lula da Silvain power since January 1, who vowed to fight for the protection of the environment.

“We ask President Lulu, as Commander-in-Chief of the Brazilian Navy, to immediately intervene and order the São Paulo back to Rio de Janeiro,” the Shipbreaking Platform said in a statement. Brazil the “deliberate” sinking of the hull “equates to a state-sponsored environmental crime”.

The former glory of the French fleet, capable of catapulting aircraft weighing from 12 to 15 tons with a takeoff speed of 278 kilometers per hour, was acquired by Brazil in 2000.

But due to obsolescence and a number of problems associated with a fire on board that occurred in 2005, they decided to get rid of it.

In June 2022 the shipyard Juice Denizcilik received permission from the Brazilian authorities to transport it to Turkey for scrapping. But when he was at the height of the Strait of Gibraltar, in late August, the Turkish environmental authorities announced that he was no longer welcome. (AFP)