The Brazilian Navy (MB) confirmed late Friday afternoon (03) that the hull of the aircraft carrier São Paulo was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean. The episode ends months of stalemate, which began in August 2022 when the ship left the country to be dismantled in Turkey.
In an official note, the Navy says that "The procedure was conducted with the necessary technical competence and safety by the Brazilian Navy, in order to avoid logistical, operational, environmental and economic losses to the Brazilian State.”
The ship of French origin sank in an area of Brazilian jurisdictional waters, "350 km from the coast and with an approximate depth of 5 meters, selected based on studies conducted by the Navy Hydrography Center and Institute of Studies of the Sea Almirante Paulo Moreira.”
MB did not provide details about the operation, nor did it release images of the sinking of the hull that was once the flagship of the Brazilian fleet. Still according to the naval force, the choice of the area was based on five main factors:
- Location within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Brazil;
- Location outside Environmental Protection Areas;
- Area free of interference with documented submarine cables;
- Area without interference from water works projects;
- Area with depths greater than 3 thousand meters.
The sinking of the former Aerodrome Ship (NAe) A12 São Paulo also raises questions about environmental damage. In fact, all the controversy surrounding the ship's barring in Turkey and its return to Brazil involves this issue.
The A12 was manufactured in the 1960s by as the R99 Foch, the second aircraft carrier of the Clemenceau Class. Like all ships at the time, a huge amount of asbestos, a carcinogenic material, was present in its construction.
In the 1990s, when it still belonged to the European country, a reform removed about 55 tons of toxic material from Foch. But when it was sold to Brazil in 2000, around 9,6 tons of asbestos were still on the aircraft carrier. According to the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), which was against the sinking of the São Paulo, the remaining asbestos was an inseparable part of the ship's structure.
The São Paulo was officially retired in 2018 and sold at auction by the Turkish shipyard SÖK DENIZCILIK TIC.VE LTD (SÖK) for BRL 10,5 million. In Brazil, a group of veterans tried to prevent the dismantling of the São Paulo to transform it into a floating museum; in Turkey, protesters wanted the ship well out of the country, claiming it was toxic waste. The protests were successful and the hull of the aircraft carrier São Paulo, towed by the Dutch tug Alp Centre, was prevented from entering the country.
The convoy then returned to Brazilian waters, trying to dock at the port of Suape, in Pernambuco, again barred by local authorities due to the alleged risk of contamination. For 105 days the convoy wandered along the Brazilian coast, covering an area just over 23 kilometers. According to the hull's former owners, the distance covered was enough to reach anywhere in the world.
The Brazilian Navy intervened when the hull's owners threatened to abandon the ship in the ocean, posing serious risks to navigation. The São Paulo was then evaluated by specialists, who pointed out holes in the hull and considerable degradation in its buoyancy. In other words, sinking was inevitable.
MB, which also received an offer of R$ 30 million from a Saudi company for the hull, was also contested in note by MSK and SÖK, in a document that still blames President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for xenophobic attacks against Turkey.
Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government paid US$ 12 million for the well-worn hull. The São Paulo spent only 206 days at sea and launched 566 Brazilian, Argentinean and Uruguayan aircraft until it was finally stopped at the Arsenal de Marinha in Rio de Janeiro (AMRJ) in 2005. The reason was the explosion of a steam boiler during a maintenance work, killing three sailors. Before that, NAe São Paulo already had several problems.
The Navy still planned to invest BRL 1 billion in the modernization of the São Paulo until it had the resources to buy a new aircraft carrier. The ship's upgrade and refurbishment was expected to take place between 2015 and 2019 and should keep NAe São Paulo in service until 2039.
The vessel was supposed to receive new launch (catapult) and recovery (cables) systems for aircraft, improvements in accommodation, complete replacement of cabling, new propulsion and electrical power sets and other upgrades, which never arrived.
Thus, the São Paulo spent most of its trajectory in the Navy stationed at the AMRJ, where it served for several ceremonies. Its size also impressed anyone who saw it even from afar, or who flew over Rio de Janeiro during landings at Santos Dumont Airport.
Now the aircraft carrier São Paulo, Brazil's largest military ship, is 5 km from the surface, resting on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Read the full note from the Brazil's navy.
BRAZIL'S NAVY
NAVY MEDIA CENTER
OFFICIAL NOTE
Brasilia DF. On February 03, 2023.
Regarding the hull of the ex-São Paulo Aerodrome Ship, given the facts presented in the t Official Note from the Ministry of Defense, the Attorney General's Office and the Brazilian Navy, it should be noted that the jettisoning operation, through the planned sinking and controlled, took place in the late afternoon of today (03), strictly as conceived.
The procedure was carried out with the necessary technical competence and safety by the Brazilian Navy, in order to avoid logistical, operational, environmental and economic losses to the Brazilian State.
The area for the final disposal of the hull, located in Águas Jurisdicionais Brasileiras (AJB), 350 km from the coast and with an approximate depth of 5 thousand meters, was selected based on studies conducted by the Navy Hydrography Center and the Institute of Studies of Sea Almirante Paulo Moreira.
The analyzes considered aspects related to navigation safety and the environment, with special attention to the mitigation of impacts on public health, fishing activities and ecosystems.
Finally, the Brazilian Navy pays legitimate reverence to the former Aerodrome Ship “Sao Paulo”. A boat that harbors a belligerent soul perpetuated in the minds of the men and women who manned its decks, worthy servants of the French National Navy and the Brazilian Navy, under the aegis of naval traditions and a high sailor spirit.
