A grounded and laden very large ore carrier is being examined by divers on Brazil's coast as owner Polaris Shipping gears up to remove bunkers from the the vessel, the outfit said.
The South Korean shipping company also said the oil sheen or residue initially spotted around the 300,630-dwt Stellar Banner (built 2016) has disappeared.
“The oil fence deployed around Stellar Banner as a precautionary measure has now been removed, after consulting with the Brazilian navy and Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA),” said Polaris.
However the shipowner said an an anti-pollution team remains on standby.
“With the risk of a potential oil leak mitigated, the de-bunkering plan, the processes of safely removing the fuel from the ship, is progressing. Once complete, the risk of any spill will be further reduced,” he said.
Polaris said it is seeking to accelerate arrival of a bunker barge at the site to offload around 3,500 tonnes of fuel and 140 tonnes of gasoil remaining in the ship’s tanks.
“The detailed de-bunkering plan was submitted to the navy for review and the operation will be completed in the coming weeks,” added Polaris.
Ship stable
“Despite having run aground, overall analysis indicates that the weight of the vessel is well distributed on the sand bank without specific points of stress on the hull. The vessel remains stable with its own power.”
Stellar Banner was reportedly intentionally grounded last week by the ship’s master after it began taking on water and listing severely about 65 nautical miles (120 kilometres) away from Vale's Ponta da Madeira terminal in San Marcos Bay. The ship was loaded with Vale’s iron ore and was bound for China.
Polaris, which is listed in Equasis as both owner and manager of the Marshall Islands-flag Stellar Banner, said Thursday that the VLOC made contact with an unidentified shallow seabed after leaving the terminal in the northern Brazil city Maranhao on Monday night, at around 9:30pm local time (0030 GMT Tuesday).
Initial reports suggested the vessel had possible crack in its hull.
The Stellar Banner is classed by the Korean Register of Shipping and has insurance coverage from Britannia P&I.
