FSO Nabarima

FSO Nabarima is a floating storage and offloading vessel that is permanently moored offshore of Venezuela at the Corocoro oil field in the Gulf of Paria, located between Venezuela and the island of Trinidad. After production at Corocoro ceased in 2019 following United States sanctions on the Venezuelan state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and following years of neglect, Nabarima fell into a state of disrepair, and was reported in 2020 to be at risk of spilling her cargo of about 1.3 million barrels of crude oil.

Location of FSO Nabarima

Description

FSO Nabarima is a floating storage and offloading vessel, without motors, that is permanently moored offshore of Venezuela at the Corocoro oil field in the Gulf of Paria and whose main purpose was to receive the petroleum produced by the mixed company Petrowarao, in Delta Amacuro state. Nabarima used to be held with nine anchors and is connected to a 23 kilometres (14 mi) long pipeline system.[1]

Operations

Nabarima, with a capacity of 1.4 million barrels of oil, was built in 2005 by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea for ConocoPhillips, which at the time operated the Corocoro field.[2][3] In 2007, Hugo Chávez expropriated ConocoPhillips' assets in Venezuela and the country seized control of Corocoro and Nabarima, which passed into the control of Petrosucre, a joint venture of PDVSA, which has a of 74 % of participation, and Italian oil company Eni, with the remaining 26 %.[1][3][4]

In early 2019, Petrosucre shut down production at Corocoro after the United States placed sanctions on PDVSA that prevented Petrosucre from exporting oil to Citgo, which had previously purchased Corocoro oil.[4] After years of neglect, Nabarima fell into a state of disrepair. Russ Dallen, head of Caracas Capital Markets, who closely tracks Venezuela’s maritime industry, said that the ship “should not be in this shape except for neglect and stupidity.” An industry executive, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said the lack of maintenance appeared to have damaged valves in the ballast system used to stabilise the ship.[2][5]

Shutdown

Following the Corocoro shutdown, Nabarima was abandoned with about 1.3 million barrels of crude aboard. During months, opposition leaders and petroleum union leaders denounced that the tanker was tilted, was in risk to sink and create a significant environmental disaster. Nicolás Maduro government's spokespeople denied this.[6] Nabarima is a double-hulled tanker, which offers certain security. According to complaints of PDVSA workers, its main process, control, auxiliary and security equipments were inoperative due to "lack of maintenance and management incompetence", being operated with a skeleton crew, whereas the tanker is designed to be operated by 80 workers.[7] In July 2020 Nabarima began listing to starboard, followed by a leak into her engine room the following month that failed bilge pumps were unable to pump out.[8][9] According to Eudis Girot, the leader of the Unitary Federation of Petroleum Workers of Venezuela, there was about 9 feet (2.7 m) of water in the lower decks of Nabarima by early September and the Associated Press reported that she continued to list about 5 degrees to starboard, though PDVSA said that her condition was "satisfactory" and Eni considered the vessel "stable."[2][8][9] Girot denounced the possibility of an environmental disaster to happen.[1] The ship was almost filled to its capacity of 1.4 million barrels of crude, about five times the amount the Exxon Valdez spilled in 1989. Critics of PDVSA hve said the tanker is an example of the government’s corruption and mismanagement.[2] At the time, Eni was negotiating with the United States Treasury Department for permission to offload the oil on board.[9]

On 17 August, El Pitazo published a video in which petroleum workers denounced the poor conditions of the vessel. On 1 September, Girot denounced that the conditions of the three workers on board were subhuman since they did not have lifeboats, the fire extinguishers were expired, the bathrooms were collapsed, had little food and coexisted with rats. The following day an inspection was ordered and on 8:45 a.m. (VET) Manuel Parra, PDVSA Supply and Commerce manager, arrived in a helicopter to carry out an inspection. On 3 September, it was announced that the tanker was not in risk to sink anymore; the following day Girot affirmed that sectors of Maduro's government "planned the sinking of the Nabarima tanker.[1]

Nabarima remained listing in mid-October, when Reuters reported that crews were undertaking repairs to the ship while Eni continued discussions with the US government "in order to prevent any sanctions risk."[4] On 16 October, the United States embassy in Trinidad and Tobado declared that the sanctions against Venezuela were not designed to affect "security, environmental or humanitarian activities".[6] National Assembly deputy Robert Alcalá declared on 17 October that the Assembly must pressure for the inmediate removal of the vessel and fix the damage to prevent major environmental harm.[1] Several days later, Reuters reported that the list had been corrected, while PDVSA was said to be planning to transfer oil off of Nabarima to at least one of the company's tankers.[10][11] A visit by a team of experts from Trinidad and Tobago confirmed the list to be corrected, and a tank barge and oil tanker have been designated for removal of 550,000 barrels of oil for delivery to Venezuela.[12]

On 2 November, the United States Deparment of State assured that Eni's efforts to prevent an oil spill would not be in conflict with the sanctions and expressed its support for the emergency reparations.[13] The following day the National Assembly of Venezuela held responsible Maduro's administration for the deterioration of Nabarima and requested the United Nations Office for Project Services and the International Maritime Organization to urgently inspect the vessel. The Assembly also asked Italian company Eni to follow the experts recommendations for the inmediate offload of the oil from the board.[14][15] Nueva Esparta state Tobías Bolívar deputy declared that from 80 petroleum workers originally, only six remained in the vessel.[15]

See also

References
  1. "CLAVES Así avanza la situación del tanquero Nabarima". El Pitazo (in Spanish). 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  2. "Damaged Venezuelan oil tanker FSO Nabarima draws international concern". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  3. "Report: Venezuelan FSO is Taking on Water". The Maritime Executive. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  4. "Idled Venezuelan floating oil facility under repairs amid environmental concerns - source". Reuters. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. "Un buque venezolano se hunde en el Caribe con más de un millón de barriles de petróleo que podría causar un desastre ambiental". Infobae (in Spanish). 21 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  6. "Estado venezolano inicia descarga de barriles de petróleo del Nabarima, afirma Argus Media". Efecto Cocuyo (in Spanish). 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2020-11-04. Desde hace meses dirigentes opositores y sindicalistas petroleros denuncian que el barco, ubicado en el Golfo de Paria, estaba inclinado y corría riesgo de hundirse y generar un desastre ambiental de gran magnitud. Voceros del gobierno de Nicolás Maduro lo desmentían.
  7. "FSO Nabarima, una amenaza ambiental en las costas de Venezuela". Cambio16 (in Spanish). 2020-09-01. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  8. "PDVSA Says Idled Nabarima FSO in 'Satisfactory' Condition". Marine Link. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  9. "Report: Eni Seeking Options to Offload Crude From Venezuelan FSO". The Maritime Executive. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  10. "Venezuela's PDVSA to offload crude from idled floating facility: sources". Reuters. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  11. "Navio com mais de 1 milhão de barris de petróleo corre risco de afundar na Venezuela". globo.com. Oct 21, 2020. Retrieved Oct 27, 2020.
  12. "FSO Nabarima Is 'Upright' but Crude Transfer Could Be Risky". Offshore Magazine. Oct 26, 2020. Retrieved Oct 27, 2020.
  13. "EE UU: Sanciones no prohíben a Eni reparar tanquero Nabarima". Panorama (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  14. "Asamblea Nacional solicitará a la OMI inspeccionar el buque Nabarima". El Pitazo (in Spanish). 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  15. "Parlamento responsabilizó al régimen por abandono del buque Nabarima". El Nacional (in Spanish). 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
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