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Vale Brasil

Vale (later Chinese owners) · Bulk · In service (renamed Ore Brasil, 2015) · built by Hanwha Ocean (DSME)

Vale Brasil opened the Valemax era in 2011: the largest bulk carriers ever built, ordered by a mining company to bend the economics of the Brazil–China ore run.

Length overall362 m

Beam65 m

Deadweight402,347 t

Speed15 kn

Delivered2011

Draft23 m

Our numbers

Derived metrics

Computed by ships.fyi from the core specification, see how we calculate these.

Length-to-beam ratio#140 of 142

5.57 length overall ÷ beam

Sense of scale

How big is it, really?

The Vale Brasil's length overall, against things you already know the size of.

Vale Brasil362 m

Eiffel Tower (height)330 m

Titanic269.06 m

Football pitch105 m

Boeing 747-876.3 m

Blue whale25 m

You (probably)1.75 m

The 747-8 held the longest-airliner record for over a decade, until Boeing's 777-9 took it by about 19 inches (76.72 m), our sibling site aircraft.fyi measures everything that flies the same way.

One Vale Brasil = 1.35 Titanics · 3.4 football pitches · 14 blue whales · 4.7 Boeing 747-8s laid end to end.

#27 of 142 by length → #7 by deadweight → Run the Canal-Fit Checker →

Specification

The numbers

Length overall	362 m
Beam	65 m
Deadweight	402,347 t
Draft (fully laden)	23 m
Delivered	2011
Renamed	Ore Brasil, 2015
Flag	Singapore (at delivery)

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Last verified: 2026-07-15 · Spot an error? business@luck.fyi

The story

What makes it different

Vale Brasil was ordered not by a shipping line but by a mine. Brazil's Vale, watching Australian ore reach China in half the sailing time, decided to erase the distance with scale: a fleet of 400,000-tonne carriers, the largest bulk ships ever built, cutting the per-tonne cost of the Brazil–China run by roughly a third.

China's shipowners saw a customer becoming a competitor and lobbied Valemaxes out of Chinese ports for years; the giants discharged at transhipment hubs in Malaysia and the Philippines until 2015, when a deal, Vale selling ships to Chinese owners and chartering them back, opened the ports. Vale Brasil herself was renamed Ore Brasil in the reshuffle.

The class was designed to the 'Chinamax' standard, 360 by 65 metres on a 24-metre draft, the largest dimensions China's ore terminals accept, and it worked: second-generation Valemaxes followed, and the Brazil–China ore bridge they created now moves a measurable share of all the iron on Earth.

The class

The Vale Brasil line

Valemax

Lead of the 400,000-tonne class, dozens of first- and second-generation sisters built in Korea and China, designed to the 'Chinamax' port standard of 360 × 65 × 24 m.

Operators

Who operates the Vale Brasil

All 1 operator of record, verified 2026-07-15. Figures marked ≈ are approximate.

BRVale (later Chinese owners)Ordered by Brazilian miner Vale; later sold into Chinese ownership and chartered back, sailing as Ore Brasil.1

Quick answers

Vale Brasil, asked and answered

How long is the Vale Brasil?

362 m (1,188 ft) length overall, the #27 longest of the 142 ships on ships.fyi, and 3.4 football pitches end to end.

How big is the Vale Brasil compared to the Titanic?

The Vale Brasil is 1.35× the Titanic's length, 362 m against her 269.06 m.

Who operates the Vale Brasil?

Vale (later Chinese owners). Current status: in service (renamed ore brasil, 2015).

Does the Vale Brasil fit through the Panama Canal?

No. At 362 m long, 65 m wide and 23 m of draft, the Vale Brasil exceeds even the Neopanamax gauge (366 × 51.25 × 15.2 m), run any gauge on the Canal-Fit Checker.

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