Update – Aircraft carrier Sao Paulo, ex-Foch
3:30 p.m
Yesterday, 315 km off the Brazilian coast, the Dutch tug ALP Guard was replaced by the Brazilian Navy deep sea-going tug Purus. The Brazilian Navy staff stated in its press release that considering the state of deterioration of the hull of the aircraft carrier NAeL Sao Paulo, ex-Foch, it would not allow her return to a port or to Brazilian territorial waters. Robin des Bois believes that a scuttling operation is being prepared.
The ex-aircraft carrier Foch on her way towards the unknown
After she was banned by Türkiye on August 26, 2022 and after she was banned by Brazil in October 2022, the NAeL Sao Paulo, ex-Foch, remained for three months off the port of Suape, State of Pernambuco, in the limit of the Brazilian territorial waters; a court injunction prohibits her to leave for the international waters.
On January 19, 2023, the end-of-life aircraft carrier under tow of the Dutch-flagged ALP Guard escaped, heading east, at a speed of 3/4 knots. She was briefly followed by the Brazilian Navy patrol boat NPA Macau P71. The patrol boat then sailed back to the port of Suape. The convoy is about to leave the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone.
