Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose was only operating at partial capacity after tanker Meganisi (IMO 9286023) collided with a dock on August 25th, reported Reuters, citing three sources with knowledge of the incident.
The collision shut the South dock, one of Jose Offshore Platform’s three oil berths, East, West and South, used to ship crude from the Orinoco Belt, Venezuela’s main producing region, and to discharge imported diluents, the sources said. Jose also has two monobuoy systems, which were continuing to operate as normal.
Meganisi was apparently bringing imported heavy naphtha from Corpus Christi in the US when it struck the dock. The tanker was moved to Jose’s East dock to complete discharging.
If the South dock is unable to restore normal operations in coming days, some of PDVSA’s joint ventures could be forced to slow the operation of crude upgraders until Jose recovers, the sources told Reuters.
Crude oil tanker Meganisi (IMO 9286023) allided with a pier at the Jose 2004-built, Greece-flagged, 41,526 gt Meganisi is owned by Sarakino Shipping Corp care of manager Eletson Corp of Piraeus, Greece. It is entered with UK Club (Area Group Piraeus H1) on behalf of Sarakino Shipping Corp.