A collision between two vessels took place in Venezuela on Sunday 20 March. A Liberian flagged oil tanker, chartered by Chevron Corp, had a minor accident with another vessel, the Bueno. Although the Bueno vessel was involved in transporting Iranian-origin cargo, it was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year, resulting in the loss of its Djibouti flag.
The tanker Kerala, chartered by Chevron, was hit in the incident. The vessel, which is scheduled to load about 240,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy oil this week, was near the Amuay ship-to-ship transfer area when it collided with the Bueno. However, there was no serious damage to either vessel and no injuries or spills were reported.
A risky oil environment in Venezuela
Collisions between several vessels are regularly observed in Venezuela. In addition, oil spills, fires and power outages are common. The reason is PDVSA’s aging state-run oil infrastructure. Indeed, the latter does not benefit from an appropriate maintenance.
American sanctions also affect the country. These have resulted in necessary repairs and reduced production.
Awaiting inspections to shed light on the collision of the two ships
Specific positions forced the Kerala and Bueno to anchor and wait for inspections. Kerala has since left the collision site and is currently waiting for a loading window at the Bajo Grande terminal. Refinitiv Eikon’s vessel monitoring data revealed that the Bueno’s transponder has not reported since mid-2022.
PDVSA and Chevron did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Bueno tanker has been working for PDVSA since last year, transporting oil and fuel between national ports under a time charter contract.
In sum, although the collision between the two vessels did not cause an oil spill, it highlights the risks associated with oil transport operations in an already volatile oil environment.
