Brazilian authorities continue efforts to extract about 300,000 mt of iron ore from a sinking vessel owned by Polaris. The vessel transporting Vale’s iron ore is currently stranded following a maneuver by the ship’s captain. The vessel was bound to the Port of Qingdao, China, and was expected to arrive April 4.
Five supporting vessels are ready to operate in case there is oil leakage, according to media reports. The vessel has about 3.5 metric tons of oil that might leak.
Authorities intend to first save the vessel, and then remove the iron ore produced by Vale. However, the commodity can only be removed once all the vessel’s oil tanks are emptied.
Brazil’s federal police in Maranhão state has opened an investigation to determine if there was an environmental crime in the sinking of Vale’s iron ore vessel.