Ship Professor Besnard returns to the surface in Santos The historic ship Professor W. Besnard, which was refloated three months after partially sinking in the Port of Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, may be fully recovered or have part of the structure preserved. The information was released this Wednesday (17), by the president of the Santos Port Authority (APS), Anderson Pomini. The vessel responsible for taking the first Brazilian research teams to Antarctica partially sank in March, during heavy rain, while it was undergoing renovations to be transferred to the Instituto do Mar (Imar). ✅ Click here to follow the new g1 Santos channel on WhatsApp. The president of APS explained that, before defining the future of the ship, an examination will be carried out to determine whether the total recovery of the vessel is viable from a technical and financial point of view. According to Pomini, Professor W. Besnard will receive a permanent tribute at Parque Valongo, regardless of the result of the technical evaluation. If full recovery is not considered viable, part of the structure could be preserved and incorporated into the space as a way of enhancing the history of the vessel, considered a milestone in Brazilian oceanographic research. Ship Professor W. Besnard was refloated this Monday (15) Diego Bertozzi/TV Tribuna Refloating The ship Professor W. Besnard partially sank on March 13, at the Valongo pier, in the Port of Santos, after heavy rains caused water to enter the vessel. At the time, the ship was undergoing renovations to be transferred to the Instituto do Mar (Imar), after being donated by the University of São Paulo (USP). After the incident, the Santos Port Authority (APS) emergency hired the company Marfort Serviços Marítimos for R$8.6 million to carry out the operation to remove the vessel. The contract provides for diving, operational safety, pollution containment, refloating and subsequent docking at a shipyard. Ship Professor W. Besnard will be removed from the Valongo pier by APS Alexsander Ferraz/A Tribuna Jornal Historic vessel Built in 1966 by order of the Government of São Paulo, Professor W. Besnard played an important role in Brazilian oceanographic research. Throughout its history, it carried out expeditions along the Brazilian coast, in Cape Verde and other regions of the Atlantic, in addition to taking the first teams of Brazilian researchers to Antarctica. The vessel was also used to train scientists, accumulating more than 260 trips and thousands of collection points for studies. The ship had been out of operation since 2008, when it was hit by a fire that compromised its structure. Since then, it remained inactive and was awaiting recovery to resume functions linked to research and environmental education. VIDEOS: g1 in 1 Minute Santos