Vale announced that the vessel owned and operated by the Korean company STX Pan Ocean was removed from Pier I at Ponta da Madeira Maritime terminal and towed to an anchorage area, defined by the Brazilian Navy and other competent authorities.

In this area, STX Pan Ocean will be able to safely continue to work and analyze the damages and necessary repairs of the vessel that was designed and built by STX Pan Ocean. Vale will keep following the actions to be taken by the STX Pan Ocean.

Iron ore shipments from Pier I will be normalized and the next ship berthing operation is scheduled for today's afternoon.

During the period in which the Pier I was not operating, we estimate that 750,000 tonnes of iron ore were not loaded into ships.

Because there are no facilities to unload iron ore at Ponta da Madeira and no large shipyards in the area, repairs must be made by divers while the ship is at anchor

The Vale Beijing is one of the first of nearly three dozen very large ore carriers or "Valemax" vessels that the company has commissioned to be built in China and Korea to help cut the cost of shipping iron ore to China, the world's largest steelmaker and to clients in Europe.

The Vale Beijing is loaded with 384,300 tonnes of high grade ore mined by Vale at its giant Carajas complex in Brazil's Amazon region and destined for Rotterdam.

A crack in the Vale Beijing's ballast tanks was either the result of loading its holds or a structural problem.