MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's navy ex-flagship, carrier Sao Paulo has become a roaming “ghost ship”

The once proud carrier Sao Paulo, which because of asbestos insulation has been turned back at junkyards

A Federal Court in Pernambuco, northeast of Brazil issued an emergency injunction ordering the country's Navy to immediately suspend the forced berthing of the tugboat transporting scrap metal from the “São Paulo” aircraft carrier. The convoy has been on the coast of Pernambuco since early October and has been identified as “ghost ship.”

Federal judge Ubiratan de Couto Maurício signed the decision at the request of the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Pernambuco (PGE-PE) and the Suape Industrial Port Complex. The magistrate also determined a daily fine of R$ 100.000 in case of non-compliance.

The Navy had communicated the forced berthing operation to the Port of Suape in a document on November 8. However in response to a request by the State Government, the Judiciary recognized the environmental and operational risks of docking scrap from the old carrier, originally from France.

Sold for dismantling to a Turkish company, the hull of the former aircraft carrier, carried by the tugboat Alp Centre, departed Rio de Janeiro in August but was prevented from crossing the Strait of Gibraltar after the Turkish Ministry of Environment suspended the authorization it had previously received.

It has since roamed the Atlantic Ocean as no port will accept the ageing vessel since it contains tons of carcinogenic asbestos besides suspected of carrying other toxic and radioactive waste.

In the ruling, the federal judge grants “anticipatory injunction, as a precedent, to impose the defendants – under penalty of a daily fine of R$ 100.000 in the event of non-compliance, without prejudice in responsibility for disobedience and environmental crimes and civil liability action for damages”.

Furthermore, “Immediate suspension of any measure aimed at determining the forced berthing of the former aircraft carrier São Paulo at the Port of Suape or, if this comes to fruition, promote the immediate withdrawal of the vessel, with responsibility over all the costs and risks.”