 On 5 December 2011 it was reported that "Vale Beijing", operated by STX Pan Ocean, had suffered structural damage during her first cargo loading and was in danger of sinking at the port of Ponta da Madeira in Brazil due to sea water entering ruptured ballast tanks and cargo holds.The South Korean-built "Valemax" ship, partially loaded with 260,000 tons of iron ore, was towed away from Pier 1 by tugboats in the following day and as a precaution against environmental damage the Brazilian authorities requested her fuel tanks to be emptied.Since there are no facilities to unload iron ore from the ship at Ponta da Madeira and no large shipyards in the region, emergency repairs had to be performed by divers and the cargo redistributed while the ship was anchored offshore before it could be towed to a shipyard.