Environmentalists say the Brazilian navy's plan to abandon a massive aircraft carrier is a disaster for marine life
omewhere in the South Atlantic ocean right now, a 34,000-ton, 870-ft. aircraft carrier is floating aimlessly on the waves. The vessel, caught in an international dispute over its toxic contents, is about to become one of the biggest pieces of trash in theThe São Paulo, as the ship is known, has been stuck in limbo for five months.
Brazil doesn’t want it back, though. In September, a port on the coast of Pernambuco state blocked the ship from docking. The port argued there was too big a risk that the ship would be abandoned, leaving port authorities to pick up the tab for moving it and dealing with the asbestos. That left the São Paulo circling off the Brazilian coast, until Jan. 20, when Brazil’s navythat it had pushed the ship out to international waters, where it remains.
newspaper on Saturday that sinking the vessel—using explosives—is the only way to put an end to the controversy surrounding it. The ship’s saga is set to become an extreme case of vessel abandonment—a problem that plagues marine conservationists and coastal communities around the world. Ocean watchdogs say sinking a boat as big and old as the São Paulo would be an environmental disaster; according to the Basel Action Network , an NGO, the ship contains thousands of metric tons of asbestos and other toxic substances in its electrical wiring, paints, and fuel stores.
Abandoning it at sea would constitute “gross negligence” and violate three separate international environmental conventions, says Jim Puckett, BAN’s executive director. “We’re talking about a ship containing both hazardous materials and valuable materials—it’s supposed to be brought into the territory of Brazil and managed in an environmentally sound way,” Puckett says. “You can’t just sink it.”
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