IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) decided to cancel the export authorization for the São Paulo aircraft carrier to Turkey and determined the return of the vessel to Brazil.
On Friday (26), after complaints by environmental organizations about illegal export of toxic waste, the Turkish government barred the ship from entering that country for lack of information about the amount of toxic materials in its structure.
The aircraft carrier was sold by the Navy to the shipyard Sök Denizcilik and Ticaret Limited, which specializes in ship dismantling. The vehicle left Brazil on the 4th, on a trip that has been monitored in real time by Greenpeace.
This Tuesday (30), it was in front of the coast of Morocco, approaching the Strait of Gibraltar.
In a letter signed by the general coordinator of Environmental Quality Management, Rosângela Maria Ribeiro Muniz, Ibama says that “the authorization issued by Ibama for this movement is suspended, with the Brazilian exporter having to arrange, at its own expense, the return of the vessel to Brazil “.
If the determination is not complied with, says Ibama, the ship’s exporter is at risk of incurring illegal traffic in hazardous waste. The ship was exported by Oceans Prime Offshore, Sok’s maritime representative in Brazil.
In a note sent by email to Sheetthe Turkish embassy in Brazil said that the Turkish government has been warning, since the beginning of the process, that the ship would not enter the country if it posed any danger.
Ankara even issued a permit for the vessel to enter, but the decision imposed conditions, such as ensuring that the vessel was inspected before arriving, in accordance with conditions set out in the Basel Convention.
The Norwegian company Grieg Green, responsible for the inspection, admits, however, that it did not have access to the entire structure and that the work was further hampered by the limited access to the ship’s original documentation, given its age.
On the 4th, the Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro granted an injunction to the São Paulo-Foch Institute preventing the vessel from leaving. When notified, the Navy informed that the request could not be accepted because the ship was already in international waters.
According to the Turkish embassy, the ship’s entry into the country depends on a second inspection of the ship under the supervision of independent institutions and the delivery of an inventory of hazardous materials, with the exact location of asbestos and other waste.
The aircraft carrier was the largest Brazilian warship
The São Paulo aircraft carrier was sold in 2021 for R$10.5 million. She was the largest Brazilian warship, with 31 thousand tons, 266 meters in length and capacity for up to 40 aircraft. Its armament consisted of three dual missile launchers and large-caliber machine guns.
Built in the late 1950s, it was initially named Foch and, after joining the French fleet, arrived in Brazil in 2001. It operated until 2017, when the Navy decided to get rid of it.
Nicola Mulinaris, Communications Director and Political Advisor at Shipbreaking Platform, says that the ship’s transport violates the Basel accord rules, due to flaws in the characterization of toxic waste and lack of warning to the countries in whose waters it will sail until it reaches Turkey. .
According to him, the inspection by Grieg Green identified just under ten tons of asbestos on the ship, while a French aircraft carrier of the same class, called Clemenceau, had 760 tons.
Asbestos is identified as the cause of diseases such as asbestosis, chronic lung disease of occupational origin, lung and gastrointestinal cancers, for example.
The report contacted Oceans Prime, but did not receive a response until the publication of this text.
