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Vessel, prohibited from docking in Brazil due to health and environmental risk, was seen being taken to international waters, surprising the companies responsible
The Brazilian Navy has taken practical measures regarding its former aircraft carrier (NAe São Paulo) which is prohibited from docking in ports and shipyards in the country due to the asbestos and mercury that the hull carries. She determined the removal of the vessel from the coast of Pernambuco. This week the ship was seen moving into international waters, but until then the military had not issued any statement, which caused amazement and mystery.
The companies MSK Maritime Services & Trading and SÖK, responsible for the vessel and which later relinquished ownership due to not being allowed to dock in Brazilian ports, said they were surprised by the movement of the former aircraft carrier, despite having stated that the hull was safe even with the waiver.
The Navy carried out an inspection of the contaminated hull of the military ship and found that there is a “severe degradation of the conditions of buoyancy and stability”. The military also found that the vessel does not have P&I Insurance (Protection and Indemnity) coverage, nor a contract for mooring and repair signed with a company or shipyard capable of performing the services, which should be the responsibility of SÖK.
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The former aircraft carrier and its tug must be moved to a deeper region. The frigate “União” and the ocean support vessel “Purus” accompany the tow. In a released note, the Navy says that “given the conditions in which the hull is found, it will not authorize its approach to inland waters or port terminals, in view of the high risk it represents, with the possibility of running aground, sinking or interdicting the access to a national port, with logistical, operational and economic losses to the Brazilian State”. See the note in full here.
The Navy itself was one of the characters that started all this controversy
The Navy's decision to remove its former aircraft carrier from the Brazilian coast is a measure that seeks environmental preservation, and the Navy itself was the one who contributed to the beginning of the imbroglio. It turns out that when the vessel was banned from reaching its destination – a shipyard in Turkey – after Greenpeace detected carcinogenic materials in its hull, in October, she ordered the mooring to be at the Brazilian port of Suape, in Pernambuco.
At the time, she even said in a note that the asbestos currently existing in the former NAe São Paulo did not pose health risks.
The local government reacted to the order, filing a lawsuit in the Federal Court for the docking not to take place there, due to the health and environmental risk and the port operation. The case gained repercussions. Afterwards, no other port or shipyard accepted to receive the former aircraft carrier until the situation was resolved. The vessel, which came to be called a ghost ship, remained at sea (46 kilometers from the coast of Pernambuco) until it was towed under this new measure by the Navy.
The aircraft carrier, which was once the largest warship in the southern hemisphere, no longer belongs to the Brazilian Armed Forces since 2020. It was sold to SÖK. The vessel would go for green dismantling this year. While it belonged to Brazil, the vessel always caused controversy and great damage.
The ship was purchased by Brazil in 2000 for US$ 12 million during the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso. He has 266 meters length, One mouth of more than 50 meters e capacity to displace about 30 thousand tons.
At least 500 aircraft launches and several other military exercises were carried out in the first three years under Brazilian ownership. But in May 2004, 3 crew members died after an explosion in the ship's steam system.
All water, steam and fuel circulation systems were replaced, in addition to upgrades to the electrical system and modernization of the propulsion system, among other improvements to defense systems, after the explosion.
In 2012, still not operating again, an electrical fire resulted in the death of a crew member and left others more seriously injured. The ship then returned to the shipyard for further refurbishment. In 2015, with the vessel still out of operation, the Federal Government announced another major modernization project.
The objective was to extend the useful life of São Paulo until at least 2039, being able to receive new aircraft recently acquired. But the government gave up on the idea due to the estimated cost: R$ 1 billion. Expenses already accumulated US$ 150 million, and today what was meant to be the greatest asset of the Brazilian Defense, has become a great junkyard, without direction and that still causes a lot of controversy.
