Brazil retakes control of the aircraft carrier São Paulo due to the risk of sinking

New episode of the soap opera about the aircraft carrier São Paulo.

The Brazilian Navy has resumed control of the ship, through the Brazilian Maritime Authority (AMB), after inspecting the old vessel and certifying the existence of damage to the hull that could cause it to sink.

However, it has reaffirmed in a statement that the Sök Denizcilikve Tic shipyard continues to be the owner of the ship.

In this way, the Brazilian ocean support vessel Purus has replaced the Dutch tug Alp Guard, which had been contracted by Sök to transport the São Paulo to Turkey for its dismantling.

During this survey, which took place 170 nautical miles off the Brazilian coast (about 315 km), it was discovered that the Turkish firm had stopped paying for services to the tugboat since the end of 2022.

Given this, the Navy assured that it will take care of the vessel “in order to preserve the safety of navigation, damage to third parties and the environment” but that it will not authorize the approach of the hull to internal waters or ports of Brazil “due to the high risk it represents, with the possibility of running aground, sinking or interdiction of the access channel to a national port, with logistical, operational and economic losses for the Brazilian State”.

MKS DISCLAIMER

Almost two weeks ago, the MKS company, the maritime operator hired by Sök, announced that it was giving up continuing to keep the aircraft carrier on the high seas, alleging that it had reached the limit of its capacity to face the “extremely high” daily costs that this entailed and “before the lack of resources causes any environmental damage.”

The company blamed the Brazilian Navy for this outcome and accused it of not having made “the necessary efforts or found a solution so that the ship can dock to be repaired and then go to the correct green recycling process of its material” in Turkey.

At the time of giving it up, the firm assured that the hull was safe for the environment and for navigation, something that the Navy now refutes.

The former aircraft carrier São Paulo is a ship that for 20 years belonged to the Brazilian Navy.

The unit was sold to Sök for dismantling and environmentally friendly recycling at an international shipyard.

When she was already heading to Turkey, the aircraft carrier had to return to Brazil after being denied entry to the Mediterranean and, given the judicial impediment to dock in Pernambuco, since last October she has been at sea.

The São Paulo was acquired from the French National Navy in 2000, when it bore the name of Foch and she was 43 years old, with almost forty years of active service.

The ship had a short operational life in the Brazilian Navy, where it suffered a series of breakdowns and experienced a serious accident with loss of life.

Currently, Brazil has an amphibious assault ship, the NAM Atlantic, which allows the Navy to maintain its ability to use air resources.

With information from Infodefensa