Author: Ciara Nugent
Somewhere in the South Atlantic ocean right now, a 34,000-ton, 870-ft. aircraft carrier is floating aimlessly on the waves. The vessel, caught in an international dispute over its toxic contents, is about to become one of the biggest pieces of trash in the ocean. The São Paulo, as the ship is known, has been stuck in limbo for five months. Brazil’s navy sold the 60-year-old vessel—the largest in its fleet—for scrap to a Turkish shipyard in 2021, and in August 2022, it set off for Turkey from a naval base in Rio de Janeiro.