HOUSTON, March 20 (Reuters) - A Liberia-flagged oil
tanker chartered by Chevron Corp had a minor collision
with another vessel, the Bueno, in Venezuelan waters on Sunday,
according to sources and a shipping report seen by Reuters on
Monday.
The Bueno has not navigated international waters since the
U.S. Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions on it and
four other vessels for alleged involvement in moving Iranian
origin shipments, which led to the loss of its Djibouti flag.
Chevron-chartered tanker Kerala, which is scheduled to load
about 240,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy oil at the Bajo Grande
terminal at Lake Maracaibo this week, was near the Amuay
ship-to-ship transfer area on Sunday night when it collided with
the Bueno.
Incidents involving vessels, oil spills, fires and power
outages are very frequent in Venezuela as state-run PDVSA's
aging oil infrastructure does not receive proper maintenance and
needed repairs amid U.S. sanctions on the country.
Neither tanker was significantly damaged by the incident and
no injuries or spills reported. Both were told by the port
captain to anchor in specific positions and await inspections,
according to a PDVSA shipping report.
PDVSA and Chevron did not immediately reply to requests for
comment.
Tanker Bueno has been working for PDVSA since last year,
moving oil and fuel between domestic ports under a time-charter
contract.
As of Monday, the Kerala had moved away from the collision
site while waiting for a loading window at the Bajo Grande
terminal, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel monitoring data.
The Bueno's transponder has not signaled since mid-2022.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Messaging: @mariannaparraga))
