Vale informs that the two Oil Spill Recovery Vessels (OSRVs) mobilized with support from Petrobras have since this morning been at the site where the MV Stellar Banner is stranded, 100 kilometers off the coast of São Luís, in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. According to the information received today, the vessel owned and operated by South Korean company Polaris still has its fuel tanks intact. They are located on the stern of the vessel, on the opposite side of the damaged area.

The OSRV vessels were requested from Petrobras for preventive reasons, as part of a set of actions to contain any oil leakage. Thus far, the MV Stellar Banner has been preventively surrounded by a 200 m barrier made of buoys suitable to contain oil in the sea. Check below the latest information on the main technical and logistics support measures taken by Vale and the relevant maritime and environmental authorities:

– Request Ibama, in a swift manner, formal authorization to send vessels to the coast of Maranhão;

– Hiring of salvage specialists, in addition to the company contracted by the ship's owner and operator, to support the process of removing oil from the vessel;

– Provision of helicopters to transport professionals to the incident site.

The MV Stellar Banner ran aground last Monday (24) on the way out of the access channel of Ponta da Madeira maritime terminal. The 20 crew members were safely evacuated from the vessel. As a port operator, Vale reinforces that it will continue to provide all technical and operational support and cooperate actively with the maritime authority and other relevant entities.