Photo: DefesaNet

• 1957-1960: The aircraft carrier is built in France.

• 2000: Brazil acquires the aircraft carrier, which is still in operation, for US$ 12 million. It becomes part of the Brazilian Navy fleet.

• 2004: An accident involving the explosion of the aircraft carrier duct leaves three dead and seven injured. This event leads to a series of attempts to revitalize the aircraft carrier in the following years.

• 2015: The Brazilian Navy announces that the aircraft carrier would undergo a modernization that would make it possible to extend its useful life until 2039.

• 2017: The Brazilian Navy decides to deactivate the aircraft carrier, considering the modernization costs too high. The auction held only allows companies interested in dismantling the ship to participate, excluding those that intended to turn the aircraft carrier into a museum ship.

• 2021: The Turkish company Sok Denizcilikve Tic wins the auction, and it is determined that the aircraft carrier must be towed to Turkey in 90 days. There is a reaction from Turkish environmental entities, which are against the dismantling of the ship in the country due to the possible risks to marine fauna and flora.

• August 2022: The aircraft carrier leaves Rio de Janeiro, taken by a Dutch tug, towards the Turkish shipyard.

• August 2022: The lawyer representing the company Cormack, former partner of the Turkish shipyard Sok Denizcilikve Tic, requests a court injunction for the aircraft carrier to be brought back to Brazil, aiming at the manifestation of the Public Ministry about the possible presence of dangerous substances on board. The order is not complied with and later revoked, after the Brazilian Navy claims that when it was issued, the ship was already outside the Brazilian territorial sea.

• October 2022: Turkey does not authorize the aircraft carrier to enter a Turkish shipyard, considering, based on reports, that it represents a high environmental risk (due to the amount of asbestos, in 9.6 tons, existing on the ship) . The country determines that the aircract carrier returns to Brazil for treatment to be carried out in order to reduce the contaminating materials present in the vessel.

• October 2022: In response to the Turkish government's refusal to receive the aircraft carrier, Brazilian Environment Institute - IBAMA (which had approved the towing of the hull to Turkey) suspends its export authorization and determines its return to Brazil.

• October 2022: The aircraft carrier, which was already off the coast of Morocco, is towed back to Brazil.

• October 2022: Pressure grows on Brazilian environmental groups, as the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau, identical to the aircraft carrier São Paulo, contained 650 tons of asbestos in its structure, so that the amount of asbestos present in the Brazilian hull could be bigger. The company hired to carry out the inspection confirms that only 12% of the materials present in the hull were sampled.

• October 2022: The Brazilian Navy issues an official note clarifying that the owner of the hull is the Turkish shipyard, and that it is up to it to take the legal measures regarding marine environmental protection related to the towing of the aircraft carrier. The Navy also points out that all procedures were taken with respect to national and international environmental standards.

• November 2022: The Brazilian Navy prohibits the aircraft carrier from docking in Rio de Janeiro, and determines that it must be sent to the port of Suape, in Pernambuco, so that the necessary repairs can be carried out in its structure.

• November 2022: The State Environment Agency of Pernambuco – CPRH fears the marine pollution that the aircraft carrier could cause, and recommends that it is not put in the ground. The administration of the port of Suape does not authorize its docking and obtains a court order to prevent the hull from docking.

• December 2022: The insurer, MSK Maritime Services & Trading, appeals against the court decision at the Federal Regional Court of the 5th Region, requesting that the port of Suape allow the docking of the aircraft carrier.

• December 2022: The Brazilian Navy seizes the hull and announces its sinking due to its advanced deterioration conditions, as well as the lack of action by the Turkish shipyard, owner of the asset.

• December 2022: The Saudi company Sela Saudi Arabian Jeddah offers to buy the aircraft carrier for three times the amount previously paid by the Turkish shipyard, but contractual issues and the deteriorated state of the hull make this alternative difficult.

• February 2023: IBAMA requests information from the Brazilian Navy about the potential sinking of the hull, in view of the presence of asbestos on the vessel, which could cause marine environmental damage. The institute is against the sinking, and publishes a technical note in favor of sending the hull for recycling at a shipyard, due to the marine pollution that the structure of the aircraft carrier would possibly cause.

• February 2023: The Brazilian Navy maintains the decision to sink the aircraft carrier, claiming that the advanced state of deterioration of the aircraft carrier would make it unfeasible to send it to a shipyard in another country for recycling. The Navy obtains a favorable decision from the Federal Regional Court of the 5th Region, which authorizes the sinking. The Public Ministry appealed against the decision, but the appeal was denied. The aircraft carrier is sunk in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Brazil.