Sao Paulo aircraft carrier still on its way to Türkiye despite revoked permission

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A decommissioned aircraft carrier belonging to Brazil's navy is still on its way to Türkiye despite an announcement by the Ministry of Environment that it wouldn't be allowed in the country's territorial waters, data from the MarineTraffic website showed.

The ship is currently off the coast of Morocco and heading towards the Strait of Gibraltar, according to the data.

Movement of the Alp Centre anchor handling vessel, which is towing NAe Sao Paulo, between August 29-September 1, according to marinetraffic.com.

The decision revoke the ship's permission Türkiye was taken after Brazil failed to prepare a new hazardous materials inventory report, Minister of Environment Murat Kurum said on August 26.

Releasing a written statement about the situation yesterday (August 31), the Turkish Medial Association (TTB) said, "While the ship should return to the port of departure and be subjected to an expert examination for a new hazardous materials inventory, it is seen that the ship continues on its route, Aliağa is seen as the destination port, and September 11 is seen as the estimated time of arrival in international systems."

"Our struggle for the Sao Paulo aircraft carrier, which is attempted to be brought to our country against national and international laws and carries tons of dangerous waste, not to enter our country's territorial waters will continue," said the association.

What happened?

Last year, Sök Denizcilik, a company based in Türkiye, got the contract for the scrapping of the ship, causing concerns among environmentalists due to the high amount of hazardous substances, including asbestos.

Türkiye on May 30 granted conditional permission for the import of the ship, requesting a hazardous substance report before its entry to its territorial waters.

The Ministry of Environment on August 9 sent a communication to Brazil, requesting a second report before the ship left Brazil's territorial waters.

In response on August 22, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) said the ship had already left Brazil's territorial waters by the time they received the communication.

Türkiye on August 26 decided to revoke the permission for the ship.

Concerns over dangerous substances

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

Minister of Environment Murat Kurum on 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 Türkiye'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 had said in a statement on his social media account.

The report cited by Kurum was prepared by the Grieg Green company, according to 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 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. (VK)