The aircraft carrier Sao Paulo, ex-Foch, sistership of the Clemenceau, is in trouble. Towed by theDutch-flagged ALP Centre, she left Rio de Janeiro on August 4, 2022, bound for a European Union-approved shipbreaking yard.
After the late refusal of the Turkish Ministry of Environment, the convoy turned back on September 4, before crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. Its return to Rio de Janeiro was scheduled for October 3. On October 1, it was diverted to Suape.
[1]
Suape was a ray of hope. Next to the container terminal and the oil terminal, the Atlantico Sul shipyard has a 400 m long dry dock. Its activities range from shipbuilding to recycling. But on October 5, the State of Pernambuco refused the ex-Foch‘s access to the port of Suape, citing environmental risks. Since then, the convoy of the ALP Centre and the Sao Paulo ex-Foch (265 m long, 24,000 tonnes) has been sailing back and forth off Suape.
[2]The convoy off Suape, October 5-7, 2022.
The crew of the ALP Centre has been at sea for over two months. In Brazil, the end of life of the former Sao Paulo is not an election issue. Bolsonaro and Lula have other contentious debates. The visibility is almost zero.
Other press releases on the ex-Foch:
The ex-Foch, twin of the Clemenceau, on her way to the scrapyard in Türkiye [3], August 25, 2022
What is the future for the Sao Paulo, ex-Foch? [4], September 2, 2022
The ex-aircraft carrier Foch on her way towards the unknown, [5] January 20, 2023
Update – Aircraft carrier Sao Paulo, ex-Foch, [6] January 21, 2023
Scuttling of the Sao Paulo : pollution has a future, [7] February 4, 2023
See also Fuego!, September 6, 2018 about the scuttling of the former corvette Alfonso Ceirquer off Madeira, Portugal [8] (with video)