A Venezuelan-owned VLCC is reported to be heading to Asia with up to 2m barrels of crude as the South American nation looks to break the stranglehold of US sanctions.
The 320,800-dwt Maksim Gorky (built 2013) is bound for Singapore, according to AIS data and Refinitiv Eikon data.
This is believed to be the vessel’s first international voyage since the US imposed sanctions on state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), Reuters reported.
The Maksim Gorky, which is directly owned by the Venezuelan government, has been in Venezuelan waters since late 2018, according to vessel-tracking data.
The Russia-flagged VLCC is reported to have departed from the anchorage area of PDVSA's Jose terminal with estimated arrival in mid-October.
The US recently blacklisted vessel owners and operators, and threatened to sanction any tanker that helped to facilitate Venezuela’s oil exports.
Reuters reports that this is the first time that PDVSA had shipped crude to a customer in a Venezuelan-owned vessel since sanctions were imposed upon it at the start of last year.
To protect the cargo from seizure, PDVSA to have signed two separate agreements with the unnamed buyer, one for selling the crude and another as freight contract, Reuters said quoting an unnamed source.
By structuring the deal this way, the crude is owned by the customer from the moment it leaves the Venezuelan port, even though it is transported in a Venezuela-owned ship, the source was also quoted as saying said.
Since the US started to sanction PDVSA in January 2019, Venezuela’s crude exports have been on a slippery slope.
Kpler data suggests the Opec member exported 341,000 barrels per day (bpd) last month, compared with 953,000 bpd in December 2019.
Industry databases show PDVSA controls more than 20 tankers of various sizes, but most of the ships are idled in Venezuelan waters.
On Thursday, TradeWinds reported that PDVSA needs to enlarge its tanker fleet if it is to increase direct shipments to its customers.
This has prompted speculation that the company is targeting the acquisition of older VLCCs possibly from Iran, according to Alphatanker.
