MacGregor Wins Pusnes Contract for New VLOCs

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, a Finnish provider of cargo-handling machinery for ships, has won Pusnes deck machinery orders for a new series of 400,000 dwt very large ore carriers (VLOCs) under construction at Chinese shipyard, Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industries.

MacGregor will deliver high-pressure hydraulically-operated deck machinery based on Pusnes designs to the new VLOCs, intended to transport iron ore from Brazil to China.

A total of ten new Valemaxes were ordered, six of which are to be built by China’s privately-owned Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, whereas the remaining four VLOCs are to be constructed by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

Construction of the VLOCs is part of a 27-year iron ore transport deal signed between Brazilian mining company, Vale and the Chinese Government in April 2016.

Under the contract of affreightment (COA), ICBC Financial Leasing, the leasing arm of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, will transport about 16 million tons of iron ore annually for Vale starting from the first half of 2018.

World Maritime News Staff