Vega Rose - bulker in transit

With the deep decline in bulk shipping these days, it is relatively rare to see bulk carriers in Halifax. Today's brief visit from the Panama flag Vega Rose was for an Asian gypsy moth inspection, so the ship did not stay in port for very long.

The ship is en route from Alumar (Sao Luis), in the state of Maranhao, Brazil to Trois-Rivières, QC with a cargo of alumina. The port of Alumar is named for Consorcio de Aluminio do Maranhao a joint venture between BHP Billiton's Brazilian division South 32, Rio Tinto Alcan and Alcoa Aluminio do Brazil. It is the site of a large aluminum smelter (which has been shut down since 2015 due to week demand), and an alumina refinery with a production capacity of 3,639,000 tonnes per year. The raw bauxite comes from the  Mineraçao Rio do Norte open cut mine.
While the ship's destination is given as Trois-Rivières, the cargo may be going to Alcoa's Bécancour smelter, which on the south shore of the St.Lawrence, opposite.

Vega Rose was built in 2007 by Kawasaki, Kobe for Osaka Asahi Kaiun Co. The 30,847 grt, 55,711 dwt ship is equipped with cranes and clamshells for cargo handling.

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