At the end of January, the Brazilian port of Tubara~o, received a call from the Vale Rio de Janeiro, a very large ore carrier (VLOC) which can transport up to 400,000 tonnes of minerals. This is the first time that one of these giant vessels has called at this facility. CVRD has looked into using these at the port since 2008, eventually resulting to the use of a simulator to see whether it would be possible.
The vessel in question had previously called at Ponta da Madeira,Taranto and Rotterdam, and will shortly berth at Sohar in Oman. It is one of a fleet of 35 sister vessel ordered by CVRD,
being 362m long and 65m wide. Its deployment should make the transport of iron ore from Brazil to both Asia and Europe more economical, in addition to being more environmentally friendly. Because of its size, it is currently limited to just four global ports, although Subic Bay in the Philippines is now operational as a distribution hub, with services to Malaysia due to commence in 2014.
BC