Fire strikes Vale’s Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal

The fire happened at Pier 4. In Ponta da Madeira, Vale operates four piers to load ships with ore produced in Carajás (PA). The fire brigades and the fire department were called in and the fire was contained without casualties or environmental damage, according to the company

The terminal continues to operate. The affected site will undergo evaluation. The causes of the incident are being investigated, Vale said.

35 years in January

It is worth mentioning that on January 6th, the Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal (TMPM) completed 35 years of existence. In the last year, the site has reached a new level in the shipment of iron ore, manganese, and pellets. There were 191.2 million tons shipped in 2020. In 1985, loading tests with the Docepolo ship began, involving 127,000 tons of ore. TMPM went into regular operation in January 1986. That year, 11.6 million tons of iron ore were shipped.

Consult the chart below for the history of Brazilian exports via Ponta da Madeira since 2017:

Brazilian Exports from Ponta da Madeira | Jan 2017 to Nov 2020 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

According to the company, Vale has developed a system that allows it to remotely operate the forklift and recovery machines used to transfer the ore from the yard to the ship. The system allows remote control of the machines from the Port Control and Operations Center.