Risk To Operations, Health, and The Environment: Ghost Military Ship Threatens Suape

Loaded With Asbestos And Suspected Of Radioactive Materials, Aircraft Carrier Is Close To The Coast Of Pernambuco. Port And Environmental Authorities Are Against Berthing At The Port Of Suape.

The Brazilian military ship, former aircraft carrier São Paulo, measuring 266 meters in length (the largest warship in Brazil), is sailing through the Atlantic Ocean without any port willing to accept it. The vessel has been in continuous motion since August, being towed by the Dutch tugboat Alp Centre. Wherever it approaches, it has caused controversy due to health and environmental risks. Currently, near Suape, on the coast of Pernambuco, the so-called ‘ghost ship’ has already prompted protests and legal actions.

The former aircraft carrier is loaded with at least 10 tons of asbestos, a carcinogenic material, and possibly contaminated with other toxic and radioactive materials. The ghost ship left Rio de Janeiro in August after being acquired by a Turkish company. While passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, near Morocco, en route to a shipyard in Turkey, the local environmental ministry suspended the consent for the import of the asset, following a warning from Greenpeace. It was then prevented from entering Turkish waters.

The hulk and the tug had to return to Rio de Janeiro. However, when the convoy was close to the Carioca waters, the Brazilian Navy prohibited the vessel from berthing in the State, ordering it to proceed north to the Port of Suape for an inspection. However, the management of the Pernambuco port opposed the forced berthing at the location, fearing risks to health, the environment, and even local port operations. Therefore, they had to resort to the Federal Court.

The precautionary decision of federal judge Ubiratan de Couto Marinho was to prohibit the vessel from berthing at Suape, acknowledging the sanitary and environmental risks, as well as the danger of abandonment of the vessel or its sinking. The magistrate points out that the hull’s cadmium paint shows signs of being radioactive and that the amount of asbestos may be “infinitely greater than claimed”. So far, the ghost ship remains at sea, about 20 kilometers off the coast (11 to 13 nautical miles).

Berthing Would Disrupt Operations At Suape

The National Federation of Port Operations (Fenop) also opposes the forced berthing of the former aircraft carrier São Paulo at the Port of Suape. The entity considers it unfeasible to use operational berthing spots for berthing vessels without operational involvement.

The Port of Suape has five commercial berths, two of which are allocated for container movement. In Fenop’s assessment, the ghost ship would occupy two more, leaving only one berth for all other port operations, which would cause congestion in port operations with negative repercussions throughout the service provision chain and the economy of Pernambuco and the region.

Also opposing the berthing are the Pernambuco Port Operators Union (Sindope), the Port Working Labor Management Body (OGMO), and the Brazilian Association of Port Terminals (ABTP).

Protests

Environmentalists from various institutions held a protest in front of the Navy’s Port Captaincy in Recife. With banners and placards, they oppose the arrival of the ghost ship, fearing the environmental risks that the vessel may bring.

“It is known that it carries asbestos and was painted with a substance that may contain radioactivity. It is crucial to have a lot of sensibility to assess the potential danger this may pose to our environment,” said Alexandre Carvalho, president of the Pernambuco Institute of Research and Environmental Preservation.

What Those Involved In The Controversy Say

The company MSK Maritime Services & Trading, responsible for the transport of the former aircraft carrier São Paulo, states that it has become aware of the Federal Court’s decision in Pernambuco and is awaiting the resolution of Brazilian authorities to facilitate a definitive solution for the transport that is complying with all global marine transport regulations.

The Navy’s Social Communication Center states that the vessel is in a maritime area off the coast of Pernambuco to verify the integrity of the hull and the conditions of buoyancy and stability by a Salvage Master company to be contracted by Sok Denizcilik Ve Ticaret Ltd Sti. This position, in Brazilian jurisdictional waters, is geopolitically favorable for the procedures related to the re-establishment of the export process, which is the responsibility and is being conducted by the winning company of the auction, together with Ibama and the environmental agency of Turkey, as provided by the Basel Convention.