Brazilian mining giant Vale tests largest ore carrier refitted by a Chinese shipyard for green transformation

Brazilian miner Vale has carried out its first test of the Sohar Max- the 400,000-ton bulk carrier Sohar Max, fitted with five foldable ship-borne rotor sails, according to a Vale China press release sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

The vessel, the largest bulk carrier of its kind, has a wind propulsion system powered by rotor sails that can boost the ship's efficiency by 6 percent and slash 3,000 tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions per vessel, marking a new milestone in global shipping sustainability.

The 35-meter-high, 5-meter-thick rotor sail was developed by a British company and installed at Zhoushan COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry in East China's Zhejiang Province in October.

A Chinese analyst said that advancing sustainability, green development, and energy transition is a common global development goal. In this field, China and Brazil, as well as other developing countries, enjoy significant opportunities for cooperation.

"There is a certain capacity gap faced by developing countries in green development and China's strong industrial and supply chains capacity can help," Zhou Zhiwei, an expert on Latin American studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

In addition to de-carbonization in international shipping, China and Brazil can collaborate on effective de-carbonization across multiple sectors such as mining, agriculture, and energy exploration, according to the expert.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in November that China stands ready to join hands with Brazil and other Latin American countries to further elevate China-Latin America cooperation.

In the first three quarters, China's marine engineering equipment manufacturing industry demonstrated steady growth as newly contracted marine engineering orders surged by 167 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Natural Resources said in October.