CVRD (Brazil) to lease five bulk carriers for export of iron ore to China

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the Brazilian mining, logistics and transport giant, is to lease five vessels for 20-25 years to help deal with the growing export of iron ore to China. A CVRD director says the company will lease five large bulk carriers of 300,000-388,000 tonnes with four of them about to be built for Bergesen Worldwide (BW Bulk) in a Chinese shipyard. The fifth vessel will be built for NYK Line in Japan. The first of the five, from Bergesen, will be in operation from early 2011. All the BW Bulk vessels will be leased for a 25-year period. Eduardo Bartolomeu, the director of Logistics for CVRD, said yesterday in Ouro Preto (the city in Minas Gerais state where mining first began in Brazil), "This is a measure we are having to undertake to combat the constant increases in the freighting costs from Brazil to China. Today we are paying $50/tonne and this is too much. These ships will be used exclusively for the transport of iron ore." He added that the NYK built vessel will be of 300,000 dwt and the contract will be for 20 years.