China Gets Tough on Superships
Stricter Oversight Could Restrict Brazilian Miner Vale's Ability to Deliver Iron Ore China's central government put a tight rein on the ability of a new breed of supersize iron-ore freighters to stop at Chinese ports, potentially complicating efforts by Brazilian mining company Vale SA to gain access to the lucrative market.China's Transport Ministry called for more stringent review for accepting such ships into ports. It also said port operators no longer would enjoy discretion in allowing dry-bulk and oil ships exceeding current weight limits to berth at the ports."The safety outlook regarding oversized ships is not good, and the risks from their stopping at ports is on the higher side," the ministry said on its website Tuesday. China had given port operators discretion to permit oversize ships to berth three times a year.The ministry's statement stopped short of an outright ban on the ships, an apparent compromise in the face of competing agendas from Chinese companies that see profit and peril in the ships. The 361-meter-long, 400,000-deadweight-ton Vale Beijing, one of the new breed of 'very large ore carriers'The move appeared aimed at Vale, one of the world's largest producers of iron ore, a critical ingredient for making steel. Vale ...
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