Update of September 8: since yesterday evening, the convoy of the ex-Foch towed by the ALP Centre reports as new destination Rio de Janeiro, her port of departure. Since September 2, she was waiting on orders. The convoy is now back to normal speed around 7 knots (about 13 km/h). If all goes well, the convoy should arrive in Rio de Janeiro at the end of the month
Update of September 4: the Foch turned back this evening, Sunday September 4, at 7:50 pm off Casablanca.
* * *
While the Turkish Minister of the Environment cancelled on August 26 the permit to import the aircraft carrier Sao Paulo, sister-ship of the Clemenceau, to the Aliaga scrapyards, the convoy is still heading for the Strait of Gibraltar with a very low speed of about 2-3 km/h. It has passed Essaouira in Morocco and will soon be off Casablanca. IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis), the competent Brazilian authority under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, has suspended the authorization for the export of the aircraft carrier and has asked Ocean Prime, the representative of the Turkish yard Sök Denizcilik in Brazil, for the arrangements made for the return of the convoy to Brazilian waters. For IBAMA, the continuation of the voyage would be illegal waste trafficking. A return to Brazil would not mean the end of the ex-Foch saga. Reefing, in other words scuttling this 265 m long piece of military waste, is the project that may prevail.
For an inventory of the hazardous waste on board (asbestos, PCBs, heavy metals…), see the Robin des Bois press release of August 25, 2022, “The ex-Foch, twin of the Clemenceau, on her way to the scrapyard in Türkiye“.
Imprimer cet article
