Brazil’s UOL online news service reported that Brazil’s navy on last Thursday called off an operation to unload fuel oil from the damaged Vale Beijing large iron ore transport ship due to unfavorable ocean conditions,

UOL, citing Mr Calmon Bahia captain of ports of Maranhao state in Brazil’s northeast where the vessel is moored offshore, said that a fresh attempt to remove about 7,000 tonnes of fuel oil from the ship will occur in the near future.

Mr Bahia told the news service that the oil must be removed from the stricken vessel to reduce the risk of an oil spill.

The navy hasn’t yet managed to remove the oil from the ship due to strong winds and tides which would make the operation unsafe, according to the UOL report. After the oil is removed, an operation will start to unload the iron ore from the vessel, and only then will there be a decision on where the ship will be taken for repair.

Vale Beijing, reportedly the world’s largest iron ore carrier and which has been leased to Brazil iron ore miner Vale SA, developed cracks in its hull on December 3 while it was loading iron ore at Vale’s Ponta da Madeira export terminal in Maranhao for export. The vessel, which was on its maiden voyage, is owned and operated by South Korean company STX Pan Ocean Co. The ship is still loaded with 260,000 tonnes of iron ore.

(Source from Dow Jones Newswires)