New Vale VLOC delivered

A Chinese shipyard has delivered an ultra-large ore carrier (VLOC) designed to transport iron ore between Brazil and China.

The 400,000-tonne carrier Ore Tianjin has a carrying capacity equivalent to 6,666 freight train carriages.

The Valemax-class vessel has an advanced ship-loading mechanism that can load 400,000 tonnes of ore in 16.7 hours.

The ship was built by Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, for China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) and ICBC Leasing.

It is the first of a series of 10 ore carriers ordered in 2016.

Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry will build four, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) four and the other two will be built by Jiangsu’s China Merchants Heavy Industry.

The ore carriers, which have a deck size equivalent to three football fields and have a strengthened ship structure and anti-sink capability, are intended for a long-term charter with Brazilian miner Vale.