ブラジル、退役空母を沈めて処分へ　環境団体は反発

【リオデジャネイロＡＦＰ＝時事】ブラジルは１日、退役空母「サンパウロ」を海に沈めて処分する方針を明らかにした。環境保護団体は「３万トンの有害物質」を含んでおり、汚染源になると批判している。（写真は、「サンパウロ」に改修される前の仏海軍時代の空母「フォッシュ」〈右〉）
　ブラジルは昨年、トルコの企業にサンパウロの解体を発注したが、８月に解体許可を取り消された。サンパウロは帰還したが、環境リスクの大きさを理由に入港を認められず、大西洋を数か月さまよっていた。
　浮力が低下しているため制御できない状態での沈没が避けられない状況で、えい航のリスクが高まっている。このため制御された状態での計画的な沈没による廃棄以外、選択肢はないという。
　ブラジル海軍によると、サンパウロは、同国沖３５０キロの地点にえい航された。同海域は水深が約５０００メートルあり、処分するのに「最も安全」だという。処分の時期は明らかにしていない。
　環境保護団体は、船齢６０年のサンパウロにはアスベスト、重金属などの有害物質が大量に含まれており、浸出すれば海洋の食物連鎖を脅かす恐れがあると非難している。
　仏環境団体「ロバンデボワ」は、サンパウロを「３万トンの有害物質の塊」と呼んでいる。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/02/03-23:33）

Brazil plans to sink a decommissioned aircraft carrier that has been towed around the Atlantic for months with a damaged hull, drawing criticism from environmentalists, who say it is packed with toxic materials.
The navy and defense ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the six-decade-old warship, the Sao Paulo, would be scuttled, after trying in vain to find a port willing to welcome it.
Given the situation and the growing risk of towing (the ship), in light of the deteriorating buoyancy of the hull and the inevitability of a spontaneous, uncontrolled sinking, there is no option but to jettison it in a planned, controlled sinking, it said.
Environmentalists attacked the decision, saying the aircraft carrier contains tonnes of asbestos, heavy metals and other toxic materials that could leach into the water and pollute the marine food chain.
The director of the Basel Action Network (BAN), Jim Puckett, accused Brazil's navy of gross negligence.
If they proceed with dumping the very toxic vessel into the wilderness of the Atlantic Ocean, they will violate the terms of three international environmental treaties, he said in a statement.
He urged President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- who took office last month vowing to reverse surging environmental destruction under far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro -- to immediately halt the dangerous plan.
French environmental group Robin des Bois meanwhile called the ship a 30,000-tonne toxic package.
Built in the late 1950s in France, whose navy sailed it for 37 years as the Foch, the aircraft carrier earned a place in 20th-century naval history.
It took part in France's first nuclear tests in the Pacific in the 1960s, and deployments in Africa, the Middle East and the former Yugoslavia from the 1970s to 1990s.
Brazil bought the 266-meter (873-foot) aircraft carrier for $12 million in 2000.
A fire broke out on board in 2005, accelerating the aging ship's decline.
Last year, Brazil authorized Turkish firm Sok Denizcilik to dismantle the Sao Paulo for scrap metal.
But in August, just as a tugboat was about to tow it into the Mediterranean Sea, Turkish environmental authorities blocked the plan.
Brazil then brought the aircraft carrier back, but did not allow it into port, citing the high risk to the environment.
The navy said it had towed the ship to a location 350 kilometers (215 miles) off the Brazilian coast, with 5,000-meter-deep water, calling it the safest area for the operation.
It did not say when it planned to scuttle it.