[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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.