Jeb Blount and Sabrina Lorenzi – Reuters, 12/06/2011
Tugs move the damaged the Vale Beijing, a 361-metre-long vessel that is loaded with 384,300 tonnes of iron ore, at Ponta da Madeira Port near the northern Brazilian city of Sao Luis, December 6, 2011. REUTERS/Biaman Prado
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 (VALE5.SA) (VALE.N) 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 (028670.KS), is longer and wider than three soccer fields. It was about to start its first fully loaded voyage, a planned run to Rotterdam.
