Months after big launches, Venezuela's three new oil tankers remain in dock
Wanting to promote trade with Iran, Argentina and China, state oil firm gave those allies' shipyards orders for the vessels, which remain undelivered; meanwhile other new tankers in its fleet are used for storage or shuttling oil within the country
With flags and confetti, Venezuela launched three new oil tankers in the last 14 months that exemplify the socialist country’s ambitions to diversify exports to Asian markets and give a helping hand to its political allies.
But the tankers from shipyards in Iran, Argentina and China have never set sail, according to five sources with knowledge of the company’s fleet, as well as ship tracking data from Reuters showing the ships sitting where they were built.
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. But it is clear PDVSA’s push to replace and expand its fleet is stumbling.
The new tankers are part of the late 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 among 42 tankers PDVSA ordered starting in 2006 to replace its fleet by the end of last year. But only five of the ships 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.
PDVSA’s plan was to cut leasing, which could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars a year at a time when the firm is struggling with falling output and tight cash flow.