The Brazilian Navy will sink the former aircraft carrier "Foch" in the Atlantic
Aerial view of the Foch, then owned by the French Navy, February 10, 1994. © AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
This jewel of the French Navy had passed in 2000 under the Brazilian flag.
NGOs denounce an “
environmental crime
”.
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Qualified as a "toxic package of 30,000 tonnes" by the Robin des Bois association, the old hull of the
Foch
- 266 meters long - is filled with asbestos, paints and other toxic waste, according to several organizations for the defense of the environment.
But the Brazilian navy considered that there was no other choice given its very degraded state and that “a
spontaneous sinking
” of the hull was inevitable in the long term.
"
Faced with the risks involved in towing and because of the deterioration of the hull (...), the only solution is to abandon the hull by sinking it in a controlled manner
", explained the navy late Wednesday in a press release. joint with the Brazilian Ministry of Defence.
An area some 350 km off the Brazilian coast, 5,000 meters deep, was considered "
the safest
" for the scuttling, the statement said.
Two weeks ago, the navy announced that it had taken the former aircraft carrier in tow in the Atlantic.
It was previously towed by a Dutch tug for the Turkish shipyard Sok Denizcilik.
The navy had specified that in view of its state of degradation and “
the high risk
” that it represented for the environment, it would not authorize its return to a port or to Brazilian territorial waters.
Several NGOs then expressed their fear of seeing Brazil commit an “
environmental crime
”.
“
The Brazilian Navy should be condemned for negligence.
If they sink this highly toxic boat in the middle of the Atlantic, they will violate three international environmental treaties for no good reason
,” accused Jim Puckett, director of the Basel Action Network (BAN).
Built at the end of the 1950s in the shipyard of Saint-Nazaire, in the west of France, the
Foch
was for 37 years in the service of the French Navy.
It had been purchased in 2000 by Brazil, which renamed it
São Paulo
.
► To read also: Brazil says goodbye to the aircraft carrier São Paulo, an old French glory
(
With
AFP)
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