South Korea’s Polaris Shipping has kicked off its fleet renewal by contracting Hyundai Heavy Industries to build three very large ore carriers (VLOCs) to be employed on a long-term basis by Brazilian mining giant Vale.

The move suggests Vale is keen to push ahead with the replacement of its fleet of chartered-in VLCC-to-VLOC conversions, which have become a safety concern since the loss of the 266,141-dwt Stellar Daisy (built 1993) in March.