OREANDA-NEWS. January 31, 2013. Vale will deliver its first shipment of iron ore to ArcelorMittal, using a Valemax ship, at the Port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. The Berge Jaya, chartered by Vale, is expected to dock this week at the EMO dry bulk terminal in Rotterdam. This is the second voyage of the ship, built by the Chinese Bohai shipbuilding company.

As well as this visit to the Dutch port, last January 21 another Valemax ship, the Vale Brasil, docked for the first time in the Port of Kimitsu, of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal (NSSMC), near Tokyo, Japan. Its first stop was the Port of Oita, also of NSSMC, where it unloaded about 200,000 metric tons of iron ore.

This type of vessel – the world's largest ore carrier - has a capacity to transport up to 400,000 tons of iron ore. These largo cargo vessels dock at international ports to service clients such as Italian steel company Ilva (Port in Taranto), German company Rogesa (EMO Terminal in Rotterdam) and ThyssenKrupp and HKM, two other German companies (EECV Terminal in Rotterdam). So far, these vessels have stopped at ports in Brazil, Holland, Italy, Oman and Japan, as well as docking at Vale’s floating transfer station in Subic Bay, in the Philippines.

Valemax ore carriers adhere to strict safety Standards and its considered eco-friendly as its carbon dioxide emissions per ton of ore transported are 35% less than those of conventional ships with around 200,000 metric tons of capacity. By the end of 2013, there will be a total of 35 similar vessels available to transport Vale's iron ore - 19 owned by Vale and 16 chartered from international shipowners.