VLOC Taking On Water

 Ahoy There!

RIO DE JANEIRO/SEOUL, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The world's largest iron-ore vessel is disabled and could sink in a port where Brazil's Vale, the world top producer, loads about 10 percent of global supplies of the commodity, shipping agents and the ship's operator said.

The Vale Beijing, a 361-metre-long vessel that can carry 400,000 tonnes of iron ore, has a leak in a ballast tank, operator STX Pan Ocean said. Shipping agents told Reuters the vessel had ruptured its hull.

The incident at Ponta da Madeira Port near Sao Luis, Brazil, is another blow to a multi-billion-dollar plan by Vale to develop a fleet of 35 giant iron ore carriers to compete with Australian producers for market share in China, the world's largest iron-ore consumer.

The first in the 400,000 deadweight-tonne class of vessels was blocked by Chinese authorities from docking in China earlier this year.

"Sinking is the worst-case scenario," said a spokesman for STX Group, the parent of STX Pan Ocean. "But we believe that the situation is not that serious."

The Vale Beijing is carrying enough iron ore to make the steel for nearly 3-1/2 Golden Gate bridges. If it sank or faced more problems, it could delay operations at the port, which is responsible for nearly 10 percent of the world's 1 billion tonnes of annual sea-borne iron-ore shipments.

The Panamanian-registered ship, which had been due to depart on Sunday bound for Rotterdam, is expected to be moved to an anchorage area for repairs, Vale said in a statement late on Monday.

SOURCE: Reuters