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History
Name	MV Stellar Banner
Owner	VP-12 Shipping, Inc.
Operator	Polaris Shipping Co., Ltd., Seoul, South Korea
Port of registry	Marshall Islands
Builder	Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, Gunsan, South Korea
Launched	2016
Identification	IMO number 9726803; MMSI 538006941; Call sign V7TC5;
Fate	Ran aground 24 February 2020; Scuttled 12 June 2020;
General characteristics
Type	Very large ore carrier
Tonnage	151,596 grt; 300,660 dwt;
Length	340 m (1,115 ft 6 in) (overall)
Beam	55 m (180 ft 5 in)
Draft	19.2 m (63 ft 0 in) (average); 21.7 m (71 ft 2 in) (maximum);
Propulsion	Motor vessel

Stellar Banner was a Marshallese very large ore carrier (VLOC) managed by the South Korean company Polaris Shipping. Constructed in 2016,^[1] she suffered significant damage in a grounding incident in 2020 and was scuttled.^[1] At the time, she was the largest ship ever scuttled.^[2]

Construction and career history

Stellar Banner was a very large ore carrier constructed at Gunsan, South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group in 2016. Registered in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, she was named Stallar and Hyundai Gunsan 2745 before being renamed Stellar Banner.

Loss

Stellar Banner departed Ponta da Madeira, Brazil, bound for Qingdao, China, on 24 February 2020 with a cargo of 294,871 tonnes (290,214 long tons; 325,040 short tons) of iron ore.^[1]^[3] Her captain decided to deviate from his planned route during Stellar Banner′s outbound transit of Baía de São Marcos and pass within 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) of a 20-metre (66 ft) shoal in an area in which the nautical charts aboard Stellar Banner provided only limited hydrographic information.^[1] Her hull struck bottom^[1] and she suffered heavy bow damage.^[2]^[4] which caused many voids and water ballast tanks to begin to flood.^[1]

Stellar Banner anchored, and her crew assessed the damage and tried to control the flooding with fixed and portable pumps.^[1] After several hours, the crew determined that sea water was flooding the ship more quickly than the pumps could pump it out.^[1] The captain then moved Stellar Banner to shallower water and intentionally ran her aground about 100 kilometres (54 nmi; 62 mi) off São Luís, Brazil, on the morning of 25 February 2020 to prevent her from sinking.^[1]^[4] She took on a heavy list to starboard after grounding.^[4] Her crew of 20 was evacuated safely.^[4]

In March 2020, a salvage effort began in which salvors first removed 3,500 tonnes (3,445 long tons; 3,858 short tons) — about 3,900 cubic metres (138,000 cu ft) — of fuel oil and 140 tonnes (138 long tons; 154 short tons) of diesel fuel from the ship, a process which took about a month and was completed on 12 April 2020.^[1]^[4] Shortly afterward, the lightering of the ship’s cargo of iron ore began.^[1]^[4] Sources differ on the amount of iron ore removed, one stating that by 27 May 2020, salvors had lightered about 145,000 tonnes (143,000 long tons; 160,000 short tons) of iron ore,^[1] and another that 140,000 tonnes (138,000 long tons; 154,000 short tons) had been removed when lightering concluded on 2 June 2020.^[4] According to the Brazilian Navy, lightering and other measures reduced Stellar Banner′s list from 25 to 13 degrees.^[4]

Stellar Banner was refloated on 3 June 2020^[4] and immediately was towed to deeper water and anchored.^[1] There her ship classification society, the Korean Shipping Register, assisted by commercial divers and a remotely operated underwater vehicle team, conducted a damage survey which determined that she was a constructive total loss.^[1] The ship's scrap value alone probably totaled several million United States dollars or euros and about 150,000 tonnes (148,000 long tons; 165,000 short tons) of iron ore remained aboard, but Polaris Shipping — citing unacceptable safety issues that would arise in any attempt to tow the ship to port — apparently determined that the cost of bringing the ship to port to unload her remaining cargo and sell her for scrap would exceed the value of the ship and her cargo and proposed scuttling Stellar Banner in deep water instead as a means of disposing of her.^[2]^[4]

The Brazilian Navy concluded that the iron ore, navigation equipment, and basic machinery remaining aboard Stellar Banner posed no threat to marine life or the environment and approved the scuttling plan.^[4]^[3]^[5] After the removal of all floating objects, mooring lines, and oil and oily residue left aboard her, Stellar Banner was scuttled with about 145,000 to 150,000 tonnes (143,000 to 148,000 long tons; 160,000 to 165,000 short tons) of iron ore still aboard on 12 June 2020 in more than 2,700 meters (8,900 ft) of water in the South Atlantic Ocean about 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) off Maranhão, Brazil, at a point 55 to 60 nautical miles (102 to 111 km; 63 to 69 mi) northeast of the entrance to the Baía de São Marcos approach channel.^[1]^[4] She took 20 minutes to sink.^{[citation needed]} Huge fountains of red iron ore sprayed into the air as she sank,^[2] and her funnel detached from her superstructure,^[2] then resurfaced and drifted for approximately a minute before also sinking.^{[citation needed]} The anchor handling tug supply vessel Bear, the multi-purpose supply vessel (a type of platform supply vessel) Normand Installer, a Brazilian Navy patrol vessel, and an oil spill response vessel stood by as she was scuttled.^[4] At the time, she reportedly was the largest ship ever scuttled.^[2]

During the weekend of 12–14 June 2020, a Poseidon aircraft conducted overflights of the area of the sinking and found no evidence of oil escaping from Stellar Banner′s sunken wreck, according to the Brazilian Navy.^[3] The oil spill response vessel Água Marinha and the ocean support vessel Iguatemi also monitored the area for 72 hours after Stellar Banner sank.^[3]

Investigation

On 26 October 2021, the Maritime Administrator of the Republic of the Marshall Islands published a casualty investigation report on the loss of Stellar Banner. The report concluded that the most significant cause of the accident was the ship's deviation from her planned route when transiting the Baía de São Marcos, and pointed also to deficiencies in on-board management and in the information available on nautical charts.^[1]