Brazil has sunk an outdated aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean, despite concerns from environmental groups that the old warship was filled with toxic materials.
The controlled and planned sinking took place on Friday evening about 220 miles off the Brazilian coast in the Atlantic Ocean, in an area with an approximate depth of 16,000 feet, according to the Brazilian Navy statement.
The decision to sink the six-decade-old "Sao Paulo" aircraft carrier came after Brazilian authorities tried in vain to find a port willing to receive the ship.
Although defense officials said they would sink the ship in the "safest area", environmentalists criticized the decision and said the warship contained tons of asbestos, heavy metals and other toxic materials that could leak into the water and contaminate the marine food chain.
The Basel Action Network had called on newly elected Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took office last month promising to reverse the growing environmental destruction under the extreme right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro, to immediately stop the "dangerous" plan to sink the ship.
SOURCE: Noticias724