OREANDA-NEWS. Kashima port in Japan received a Valemax ship for the first time this week. The Vale Brasil, which has the capacity to transport up to 400,000 metric tons of iron ore, docked in Kashima port, of Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal (NSSMC), on June 18. Carrying 390,000 metric tons of iron ore, the Vale Brasil docked first in the ports of Oita and Kimitsu before continuing on to the port of Kashima where it unloaded the rest of its cargo (150,000 metric tons).

NSSMC had already received a Valemax ship for the first time in Oita in June 2012 and in Kimitsu in January last year.

Up to now Valemax ships have carried out 355 docking and push off manoeuvres in different ports around the world. The current fleet of 30 Valemax ships has already docked in the ports of Ponta da Madeira and Tubarão (Brazil), Rotterdam (Holland), Taranto (Italy), Oita and Kimitsu (Japan), Villanueva (Philippines), Gwangyang and Dangjin (South Korea), Sohar (Oman), in the Vale distribution centre at Teluk Rubiah (Malaysia), as well as the ports of Dalian and Lianyungang (China), and now in Kashima. The two Vale ore transfer stations in Subic Bay in the Philippines have also received the ships. Vale has already exported 64 million metric tons of iron ore on Valemax ships.

This type of ship reduces carbon emissions by 35% per metric ton of ore transported in relation to a ship of around 200,000 metric tons. The reduction is possible through the use of modern equipment which uses less diesel. Ore transport vessels have a high standard of safety and contribute to the reduction in transoceanic transport costs of iron ore for steel companies.