Aircraft carrier set to head to Turkey for dismantling amid asbestos concerns

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

An aircraft carrier belonging to Brazil's armed forces is set to be dismantled in the Aliağa shipyard in İzmir, western Turkey.

A company named Sök Denizcilik got the contract for the dismantling of the vessel last year and was given clearance by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change on May 30, according to reports in the media.

The size of the São Paulo vessel and the harmful materials that can be released by dismantling the vessel, including asbestos, caused concerns among environmental groups and opposition parties.

Minister of Environment Murat Kurum on Monday (July 18) dismissed the reports that the vessel contained 900 tons of asbestos and said it contained only 9.6 tons of asbestos, citing a survey report.

When the vessel enters Turkey's territorial waters, it will be once again examined by "experts with international competence" and will be sent back immediately if there is a dangerous situation, he said in a statement on his social media account.

The report cited by Kurum was prepared by the Grieg Green company, according to a report by the Demirören News Agency (DHA, which said it had obtained the survey report including information on how much asbestos is found in which parts of the vessel.

However, the sister vessel of NAe São Paulo, Clemenceau, was revealed to be containing more than 500 tons of asbestos during its dismantling in the mid-2000s, Evrensel newspaper reported.

The government of France, which had built both vessels, initially stated in 2005 that the ship contained 160 to 200 tons of asbestos. Before the ship was dismantled in the UK between 2009 and 2010, analyses had found 760 tons of asbestos.

Reactions 

Several local and national environmental groups have opposed shipbreaking activities in Turkey, warning that the harmful substances released during the work would threaten the environment and public health in the region.

On online petition launched by environmental groups in Aliağa was signed by more than 52,000 people. 

Murat Bakan, an İzmir MP with the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), said on Sunday, "We don't want that ship in neither İzmir nor our country. We will give everything for it."

İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer, also a member of the CHP, said they will put up a legal fight to prevent the ship from coming to Aliağa.

Özlem Teke-Taşdemir, the co-spokesperson of the Green Party, said, "We are not condemned to this economic model [where Turkey gets] plastic waste rejected by China and ships with asbestos that India turns down."

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) released a written statement today, calling on the ministry to disclose information about shipbreaking in Aliağa.

It said Minister Kurum should disclose the report that said NAe São Paulo contained only nine tons of asbestos, pointing to the Clemenceau incident.

It also said the minister should disclose the reports that international rules have been abided by in the dismantling of 714 ships in Turkey in the past five years.

Shipbreaking in the Aliağa shipyard has long been criticized by environmentalists due to environmental concerns.

(VK)