Mitsui delivers VLOC

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Japan’s third-largest shipbuilder, delivered a VLOC (very large ore carrier) that will sail between Brazil and Japan, completing an order for one of the world’s largest iron-ore carriers.

The 340 metre ?Brazil Maru?, delivered to Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd.(MOL), will be able to carry 327,180 tonnes of cargo and MOL, Japan’s second-largest shipping line, signed a 25 year contract to carry iron ore for Nippon Steel Corp.

Operators of bulk carriers including MOL and South Korea?s STX Pan Ocean Co., are buying more large-sized vessels because China’s imports of coal and iron ore are prompting other Asian buyers to seek purchases from longer distances such as South Africa and Brazil.

The Mitsui bulk carrier would have almost double the capacity of a standard 175,000 DWT capesize vessel. About 568 of capesize bulk carriers were on order at the end of October this year, more than doubling from 235 at the end of 2006, according to London-based shipbroker Clarkson Plc.