Brazil to sink ‘30,000-tonne toxic package’ warship

Rio de Janeiro: Brazil plans to sink a decommissioned aircraft carrier that has been towed around the Atlantic for months with a damaged hull, drawing criticism from environmentalists, who say it is packed with toxic materials.

The navy and defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the six-decade-old warship, the Sao Paulo (pic), would be scuttled, after trying in vain to find a port willing to welcome it.

“Given the situation and the growing risk of towing (the ship), in light of the deteriorating buoyancy of the hull and the inevitability of a spontaneous, uncontrolled sinking, there is no option but to jettison it in a planned, controlled sinking,” it said.

Environmentalists attacked the decision, saying the aircraft carrier contains tonnes of asbestos, heavy metals and other toxic materials that could leach into the water and pollute the marine food chain.

The director of the Basel Action Network, Jim Puckett, accused Brazil’s navy of “gross negligence”.

“If they proceed with dumping the very toxic vessel into the wilderness of the Atlantic Ocean, they will violate the terms of three international environmental treaties,” he said.

French environmental group Robin des Bois meanwhile called the ship a “30,000-tonne toxic package”.

The aircraft carrier was built in the late 1950s in France, and took part in France’s first nuclear tests in the Pacific in the 1960s.

Brazil bought the 266m carrier for Us$12mil in 2000.

A fire broke out on board in 2005, accelerating the aging ship’s decline.

The navy said it had towed the ship to a location 350km off the Brazilian coast, with 5,000m-deep water, calling it the “safest area” for the operation.