Britain has blocked the entry of the asbestos ship São Paulo, carrying hazardous chemical waste, into the Strait of Gibraltar. According to online monitoring, the São Paulo is at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Morocco.
It has been announced that the UK has blocked the former aircraft carrier São Paulo, containing asbestos and other hazardous chemical waste, from entering the Strait of Gibraltar. The information was published on the website of the Brazilian newspaper Exame.
“The British, like the Turkish Environment Ministry, said the ban was due to the presence of asbestos on board,” the report said. According to online monitoring, the São Paulo is located at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Morocco. While the next route of the São Paulo is being discussed, international law is expected to be applied.
ABANDONED SHIPS POSE A DANGER
On the other hand, the world’s largest ship graveyard is located in Mauritania, a West African country, Evrensel’s Ramis Sağlam reported. In Noadibou, the second largest city and economic capital of the country, nearly 400 abandoned shipwrecks are waiting to be removed from the shores of Cape Verde. In the past years, some Turkish companies had planned to generate economic income by removing the wreckage of sunken and abandoned ships, but this was only a plan. More than a hundred abandoned ships and iron piles pose a danger to the marine ecosystem in the region, which is rich in fish reserves.
ABANDONED IN A GRAVEYARD BECAUSE THEY ARE COSTLY
Since it is costly to scrap old ships, it is stated that Europe has resorted to abandoning them in this region. In White Cape, where strong tidal events are observed, ships sink in a short time. The coastline full of ships abandoned after 1980 resembles a huge ship graveyard.
