Brazil’s navy on Dec 29, 2011, called off an operation to unload fuel oil from the "Vale Beijing" due to unfavorable ocean conditions.
The vessel remained moored offshore, and a fresh attempt to remove about 7,000 tonnes of fuel oil from the ship was to occur in the near future.
The oil must be removed from the stricken vessel to reduce the risk of an oil spill.
The navy hasn’t yet managed to remove the oil from the ship due to strong winds and tides which would make the operation unsafe.
After the oil is removed, an operation will start to unload the iron ore from the vessel, and only then will there be a decision on where the ship will be taken for repair. The ship is still loaded with 260,000 tonnes of iron ore.