Distressed Venezuelan oil tanker offloads in Asia

A U.S.-sanctioned Venezuelan-owned supertanker that has had mechanical problems since January is transferring its cargo of 2 million barrels of heavy crude to other vessels in Asia, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. .

The Maximo Gorki crude oil carrier (VLCC) left Venezuela in November amid an effort to move exports designed to generate funds for the state oil company PDVSA, which has been under US trade sanctions. since 2019.

Long-standing infrastructure problems, including a lack of oil storage and vessels, frequent refinery outages and congestion at export ports, are undermining PDVSA’s increased oil output, hampering efforts to boost revenue. , according to company documents and sources.

The tanker was unable to complete its cargo delivery on time after delays caused by mechanical problems, forcing PDVSA to replace its crew and look for new vessels capable of receiving cargo transfer at sea, according to one of the sources.

PDVSA and the tanker’s operator, PDVSA’s maritime arm PDV Marina, did not respond to a request for comment on the condition of the vessel or the problems that have left it stranded. Its owner, the state maritime authority INEA, declined to comment.

The cargo of heavy crude from the Maximum Gorky was to be delivered to an undisclosed customer under a CIF agreement, or cost, insurance and freight contract that places responsibility for most of the costs and liabilities on the seller PDVSA until the shipment.

PDVSA in 2020 began offering the transportation of its own oil to help customers who had difficulty hiring ships to transport the country’s oil due to US sanctions.

It’s a big gamble doing CIF trips like this to sell sanctioned oil. Vessels often fail to complete deliveries, mechanical problems can arise and the crew is meanwhile waiting for months at sea, said a former crew member of a Venezuelan-owned oil tanker, who declined to be identified speaking of PDVSA.

The VLCC was near Singapore in late January, after crossing the Lombok Strait in Indonesia. It then turned off its transponder, according to Refinitiv Eikon tracking data.

The US Treasury Department declined to comment.

The tanker twice failed ship-to-ship transfers, delaying the discharge of its Merey 16 crude.

PDV Marina had to send a team to China to help replace the tanker’s crew after it suffered mechanical problems, said one of the sources who declined to be identified speaking of PDVSA.

He’s been in trouble.

It was not clear if he plans to transfer any other part of his cargo before returning to Venezuela.

Claire Jungman, chief of staff for the US group United Against Nuclear Iran, which monitors Iran-related oil tanker traffic, said the crude was transferred on February 19 from Maximo Gorki to Dream Vision in a transshipment operation east of Singapore o in the Riau archipelago, citing satellite and tracking data.

The owner of the Dream Vision, listed in shipping databases as British Virgin Islands-based Leah Shipping Inc, could not be reached for comment.