Vale has sold the last of its VLOCs to Bank of Communications Finance Leasing Co (Bocomm), the company has confirmed.

Nominees of the Chinese leasing giant paid $178m for the two 400,000-dwt vessels, which were handed over late last week.

“This transaction concludes the sale of all 19 VLOCs owned by Vale and is consistent with our strategy of strengthening the balance sheet and focusing on core assets,” Vale said.