OREANDA-NEWS. A Valemax ship, called Vale Korea, docked at a South Korean port for the first time in the middle of September. The world’s biggest iron ore carrier, with the capacity to transport up to 400,000 metric tons of iron ore and capable of reducing carbon emissions by 35% per ton of ore transported, was loaded in the Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal, in Maranhao state, Brazil, with 394,489 metric tons and called at Hyundai Steel’s Dangjin port, after lightning in Subic Bay. Hyundai is one of Vale’s key clients.

This was the maiden voyage of Vale Korea, part of a fleet that will total 35 ships. Dangjin port was the latest in a series of international ports capable of receiving the Valemax vessels. Until then, the largest iron ore carriers have regularly docked in the ports of Ponta da Madeira, Tubarao, Taranto, Rotterdam, Sohar, Oita, Kimitsu and Mindanao, as well as Vale’s two floating transfer stations in Subic Bay, Philippines. By the end of this year, the Valemaxes will also be able to call at the company’s maritime terminal and distribution center in Malaysia.

The Valemax ships are part of Vale’s strategy to reduce the economical distance between Brazil and Asia, the main consumer market for iron ore. The very large ore carriers adhere to strict safety standards and contribute significantly towards reducing the carbon footprint in the long haul transportation of iron ore as well as to reductions in the cost of seaborne transportation of iron ore to steelmakers.