Video shows moment 1,115-ft ship became the biggest ever to be intentionally sunk at sea
Published on Nov 01, 2025 at 10:17 PM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Oct 29, 2025 at 10:14 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
This video showed the moment that a 1,115-foot ship became the biggest ship ever to be intentionally sunk at sea.
MV Stella Banner was scuttled in 2020 after a grounding incident.
This South Korean ore carrier had departed from a Brazilian port and was heading towards China at the time of its demise.
After months of observation, the decision was made to sink the ship.
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The story of the MV Stella Banner – the biggest ship intentionally sunk at sea
This 1,115-foot ship was built in 2016 by Hyundai Heavy Industries and designed to carry large volumes of iron ore.
But when it departed from Brazil on 24 February 2020, with 294,871 tonnes of ore onboard, little did the crew know it was to be its last journey.
When the ship deviated from its planned course, it hit the sea bed and sustained damage to the hull.
To prevent the ship from sinking, the vessel was grounded on a sandbank.
Salvage operations began, with fuel oil and diesel being removed over the following months.
Much of the cargo was also removed.
Once all of this was done, a damage survey was carried out, and it was decided that due to major structural deformation, this vessel was effectively a ‘constructive total loss’.
It was decided that the ship would be sunk.
The moment this ship was scuttled
The Stella Banner was scuttled on 12 June 2020, taking 20 minutes to completely sink.
As the boat was swallowed by the ocean, fountains of red iron ore sprayed up into the air.
At the time of its sinking, this was the largest boat to ever be intentionally sunk.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a huge vessel sink beneath the waves, and it won’t be the last.
Back in 2022, the Felicity Ace sank after it caught on fire, taking 4,000 supercars with it.
This incident prompted Lamborghini to take bold action regarding the Aventadors that had been onboard at the time.
Earlier this year, we saw the Morning Midas sink as it was traveling from China to Mexico.
To see ships of this size sink is breathtaking and really brings home how big these vessels are.
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