Brasilia Portal —
A decommissioned 1960s aircraft carrier that has been floating off the coast for three months since Turkey refused it entry to be scrapped there will be scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean in waters under Brazilian jurisdiction, the Brazilian Navy said on Wednesday.
The 32,000 tonne carrier from Sao Paulo had been towed to Europe by a tugboat but failed to get past the Strait of Gibraltar and was brought back across the Atlantic after Turkey ruled it posed an environmental hazard.
The Navy said in a statement that the ship is taking water and is in danger of sinking, so it is not allowed to dock in Brazilian ports.
Despite calls from Environment Minister Marina Silva not to sink the carrier, the Navy said it had no choice but to launch the vessel in about 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) of water 350 kilometers (217 miles) offshore within the exclusive economic zone to sink Brazil .
The site is far from environmental protection areas and free of undersea communication cables, the Navy statement said.
“Given the deteriorating buoyancy and the inevitability of an uncontrolled sink, there is no other option but to jettison the hull and sink as planned,” it said.
The Navy had planned to sink the carrier at sea on Wednesday, but prosecutors tried to stop the sinking in Brazilian waters, citing the environmental threat it poses, including tons of asbestos used to clad the ship.
A federal judge on Wednesday afternoon denied her request for an injunction, saying the Navy had weighed the environmental impact against other factors.
The Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier served the French Navy as a foch from 1963 to 2000 and could carry 40 aircraft on board.