Brazil. The aircraft carrier Sao Paulo sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, despite the appeals of the Minister of the Environment and the Public Prosecutor’s Office

The Brazilian Navy said the aircraft carrier was sunk in a “planned and controlled sinking” late Friday evening. As added, this was done in order to Brazil could avoid “logistical, operational, environmental and economic losses”. Earlier, the navy reported that the ship was taking on water and was in danger of sinking. As a result, Brazilian ports refused to allow him to land.

The previously 32,000-ton aircraft carrier Sao Paulo was towed to Europe but failed to make it across the Strait of Gibraltar and was diverted across the Atlantic after Turkey considered a threat to the environment.

Despite the request of Environment Minister Marina Silva not to sink the aircraft carrier, the navy said it had no choice but to sink the vessel in Brazil’s exclusive economic zone at a depth of about 5,000 meters and about 350 kilometers from the coast. The Brazilian military had previously argued that the site was away from protected areas and free of submarine communication cables.

Previously, from 1963 to 2000, the aircraft carrier served the French Navy and was capable of carrying 40 aircraft on board.

Greenpeace asked the Brazilian government to stop the sinking, claiming it was toxic due to the hazardous materials, including the nine tons of asbestos used to build parts of the aircraft carrier.

“The sinking of the aircraft carrier Sao Paulo means dumping tons of asbestos, mercury, lead and other highly toxic substances into the seabed,” emphasizes Greenpeace and accuses the Brazilian Navy of neglecting to protect the oceans.

According to Greenpeace, the sinking of the aircraft carrier violated several international conventions – the Basel Convention, the London Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

“The Brazilian Navy chose to damage the environment and lose millions of dollars rather than allow a public inspection of the ship,” Greenpeace believes, calling the sinking “the biggest violation of chemical and waste contracts ever committed by any country.”

Previously, local prosecutors also tried to stop the sinking in Brazilian waters, citing the environmental threat posed by tons of asbestos covering its plinth. A federal judge, however, denied their request, arguing that the Navy had considered the environmental impact this event would have.

According to the Shipbreaking Platform, a monitoring organization that advocates for sustainable recycling, cited by the New York Times, over the past decade, Brazilian companies have disposed of more than 50 ships in South Asia, where regulations on handling toxic materials are looser.

“Several of these ships left Brazilian ports without complying with international rules on the transboundary movement of hazardous waste,” said Nicola Mulinaris, representative of the Shipbreaking Platform.