'Vale Beijing' cracking at Brazilian terminal

New is circulating that 'Vale Beijing', one of the new ValeMax VLOCs, has suffered cracking while loading at the Brazilian port fo Pant de Madeira. The crack is apparently in the No.7 Hold and water is flooding into the hold from an adjacent ballast tank. The ship was scheduled to load 384,000 tonnes of iron ore but loading was stopped when she had about 200,000 tonnes loaded and with about 20,000 tonnes in the No.7 Hold.

Sources have advised the Antipodean Mariner that the ship will be moved off the loading berth and her bunkers are going to be pumped off to reduce the risk of pollution. Ponta de Madeira is a loading terminal and there are no facilities to discharge the ore aboard 'Vale Beijing'.

'Vale Beijing' was built at STX Jinhae Shipyard Korea, owned by STX Pan Ocean and time-chartered to Vale. The vessel is on her maiden voyage and Ponta de Madeira is her first cargo loading.

The Antipodean Mariner