Missing the BOATS
A fleet of Venezuelan oil tankers that were built by the country's political allies have yet to be delivered, despite official launch parties, with a lack of payment suspected
With flags and confetti, Venezuela launched three new oil tankers in the past 14 months that exemplify the socialist nation's ambitions to diversify exports to Asian markets and give a helping hand to its political allies.
Ship brokers, a source from state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and a shipbuilder offered an array of explanations for the delays ranging from lack of payment to manufacturing problems.
The new tankers are part of deceased president Hugo Chavez's plan to stimulate shipbuilding in Iran, China, Argentina and even Brazil in a broader effort to blunt US power. The three vessels are part of 42 tankers PDVSA ordered starting in 2006 to replace its fleet by the end of 2012. But only five have set sail.
The delays mean higher freight costs for the financially strapped company. An internal report from March seen by Reuters said PDVSA leased 75 tankers. One contract signed this year showed PDVSA was paying US$15,000 a day for a tanker, a broker who had seen the document said.
Photographs published by Venezuelan embassies and government agencies more than a year ago show PDVSA officials and dignitaries at parties launching the medium-sized Eva Peron Aframax in Argentina and the Carabobo very large crude carrier (VLCC) in China. The Sorocaima was shown draped in ceremonial flags, floating in the water, in pictures by Iran's Mehr news agency.