A tanker operated by Venezuelan major PDVSA's PDV Marina unit has been held in Curacao in a debt dispute.
Dutch lawyer Roderik van Hees, of VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne, confirmed to TradeWinds that he had the cargo on board the 99,000-dwt Proteo (built 1993) arrested on behalf of clients.
But he was unable to divulge further details of the case.
The Curacao Chronicle reported the aframax is not allowed to leave Bullen Bay with its cargo of Venzuelan crude.
Dutch daily Amigoe reported the plaintiffs are international shipping companies who are demanding $30m from PDVSA for unpaid invoices.
The ship had reportedly loaded a cargo and tried to leave earlier this month when it was detained.
A Curacao government official was cited as saying: "This has to do with PDVSA’s commercial arrangements, and reflects the company's financial problems."
Bloomberg reported the vessel was carrying 400,000 barrels of Boscan crude.
The ship was due to transfer the oil to a suezmax bound for Thailand. It has been at the port since 30 December.
It is thought any resolution of the dispute, possibly through a sale of the vessel, could take between six months and two years.
PDVSA has not commented.
Problems mounting
In October, PDVSA was barred from a Caribbean storage terminal due to unpaid bills.
NuStar Energy claimed it was owed $26m, according to Reuters.
The suspension came into effect when a payment was missed for use of the Statia facility on St Eustatius.
It was the latest indication of the company's trouble with meeting obligations.
In January last year, Reuters reported that more than 4m barrels of crude and fuel were stuck on tankers off the Venezuelan coast after PDVSA was unable to meet hull-cleaning, inspection and port fees in the country's economic crisis.
Around 12 ships were stranded, delaying loading and discharging operations.
