Tag: Vale

Vessel towed from berth for repairs The damaged Vale Beijing, the world's largest iron ore carrier, was towed on Tuesday from its berth in Brazil for repairs, clearing the way at a port responsible for about 10 percent of global iron ore exports.Tugs moved the massive ship from the dock at the Ponta da Madeira port in northeastern Brazil to an area outside the shipping channel, allowing mining giant Vale to resume ore shipments, the company said in a statement.The ship, delivered in September to its owner and operator, South Korea's STX Pan Ocean , is longer and wider than three soccer fields. It was about to start its first fully loaded voyage, a planned run to Rotterdam.The Ponta da Madeira port outside the city of Sao Luis is operated by Vale, the world's second-largest mining company, which has a long-term contract with STX to ship iron ore, the main ingredient in steel. Vale said the interruption at the port stopped it from loading 750,000 tonnes of ore."Things like this have happened before but usually not with a ship so new," said Nelson Carlini, a naval engineer and president of Porto Assessoria Ltda, a Brazilian naval construction and port consulting ...

Water flosw into its ballast tank A STX Pan Ocean VLOC chartered to Vale has a crack in its hull according to reports in the Brazilian press.The 400,000 dwt Vale Beijing had developed a crack in the hull, which was allowing water to flow into the ballast tank according to a report by the O Globo newspaper. The vessel is moored at Port Ponta da Madeira in Maranhão and operations are underway to pump water out of the ballast tank to stabilise the vessel, the report said.The Vale Beijing was delivered in September this year and was built by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. It was the first of eight such ships to be delivered to STX Pan OceanSource: Seatrade Asia

Vale's new arm to handle cargo Brazil's Vale, the world's largest iron ore producer, has created a new logistics company for cargo transport, according to reports in foreign media.The company has extensive rail, port and shipping facilities to move iron ore and minerals from its mines to clients. It also uses these systems to transport other products such as soyabeans and steel for private clients. The reports suggest that Vale Logistics Integrada SA has been created to manage general cargo assets and to boost its focus on the logistics business.The logistics services generated $1.5 billion in revenue in 2010, an increase of 33 per cent from the year before. Most of that revenue came from shipping agricultural products, steel products, fuel and construction materials. Brazil's rapidly growing economy has put heavy strain on its infrastructure, boosting the Government's interest in expanding the country's network of highways, railroads and ports.Vale's railway network is the only form of bulk transportation in some parts of the country.In another major development, Vale has confirmed that it is planning to reverse course on very large ore carriers so much so that it could sell or lease its entire fleet of VLOC newbuildings.Reuters quoted Vale global ...

Post-Panamax vessel was sailing from Vale's Tubarao port The RDB Ocean of Joy, a Hong Kong-flagged dry-bulk carrier, ran aground in the Port of Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, Brazil's Navy said.The ship, a 92,500 dead-weight-tonne "post-Panamax" sized vessel, was sailing from the Port of Tubarao northeast of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil's Espirito Santo state, according to information from marinetraffic.com, a world-wide ship-tracking service.Post-Panamax ships are too large to pass through the Panama Canal's locks. The Navy said it did not know what was aboard the vessel.Tubarao, Brazil's largest port by volume moved, is owned and operated by Rio de Janeiro-based Vale SA (VALE5.SA), the world's second-largest mining company. Tubarao is Brazil's main iron-ore port as well as a major steel, grains, coal and bulk commodities port. Vale said the ship is not theirs.Vale's press office said it was not the owner either of the cargo or of the vessel.Tugs and support vessels have the situation under control, a press office official with Brazil's Navy in Rio de Janeiro said.According to records plotted on marinetraffic.com, RDB Ocean of Joy followed an erratic course as it entered the narrow mouth of Guanabara Bay on Wednesday morning. After entering the bay ...

Industry pressure behind Vale's decision on mega ships China's campaign to protect its maritime industry during a severe downturn will become more costly for foreign companies as Beijing grabs a bigger slice of the profits for shipping iron ore, coal and grains to the world's second largest economy.China's shipping sector -- led by state-owned COSCO Group -- has become one of the world's most influential with its fleet more than doubling over the last decade, matching the country's appetite for commodities and raw materials.The global economic slowdown, however, has led to an oversupply of vessels and low freight rates, forcing Chinese shipping companies to take audacious action to support their businesses.COSCO has demanded shipowners reduce the rental costs for their ships, while also piling on the political pressure for Beijing to stop competitors from entering the country."Being the key import country in the dry cargo business and almost everything else, they want to throw their weight around and secure more of the business themselves," said Anders Karlsen, analyst for Nordea Markets.COSCO, China's top maritime conglomerate, recently angered many in the freight community by unilaterally halting payments for vessels it had chartered, so it could renegotiate better terms.In response, shipowners threatened ...

COSCO has resolved lease disputes with shipowners on 18 vessels Brazilian mining giant Vale said it did not experience any lease dispute with shipping conglomerate China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd's and it was business as usual between the two firms.China's top shipping conglomerate has sought better terms for lease contracts signed during the peak of the market in 2008, but its decision to halt payments to several shipowners in recent weeks has threatened to taint its reputation in the international shipping community.Vale was not one of those companies and its working relation with the Chinese shipping firm is still intact, the miner said."We did not register any problems with Cosco recently," Vale's global marketing director Pedro Gutemberg told Reuters. "It is business as usual."China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd's president said last week the company had resolved lease disputes with shipowners on 18 vessels, and at least two Greece-based shipowners said they hoped to reach a settlement soon.Source: Reuters

Domestic Brazilian shipyards do not have capacity to take the order, Brazilian mining giant Vale will have China and South Korea build its new giant bulk carriers as domestic Brazilian shipyards do not have capacity to take the order, Vale chief financial officer said on Tuesday."So far we have booked 19 Valemaxes," Guilherme Cavalcanti told Reuters. "The first was already delivered and there are 18 more to come. They are being produced in China and Korea."Although Vale looked at Brazilian shipyards to have the ships built, they were already busy with orders from Petrobas or other companies, a spokeswoman for Vale said.Vale's shipping strategy mainly targets cutting freight costs from Brazil to top iron ore importer China, in order to boost competitiveness against rival diversified miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton ."Our target is to keep the difference in transport costs from Brazil to China compared with Australia to China low," Cavalacanti said.Vale rerouted its China-bound first giant bulk carrier Vale Brasil to Italy on its maiden voyage.Vale said its first 400,000 tonnes ship Vale Brasil was diverted to Italy for commercial, not political, reasons and to allow time to finalise talks for future port deals.There had been speculation among ...