- Water ingress has been reported on an ageing FSO off Venezuela which is carrying 173,000 tons of oil onboard.
- Eudis Girot, who heads a local trade union covering the petroleum industries, cited the poor maintenance onboard the FSO Nabarima, causing the water ingress.
- The water was up to 1.5 m in height, seeping into the FSO’s engine room. The FSO is operated by PDVSA, the state-run oil major.
Fleetmon reports that FSO NABARIMA with 173,000 tons of oil on board suffered water ingress in Venezuela.
FSO Nabarima in emergency situation
Floating Storage and Offloading Unit FSO Nabarima was reported by Eudis Girot, one of trade unions leaders of Venezuelan Oil Industry, to be in emergency situation, due to lack of proper and professional maintenance.
Fleetmon stated, “FSO with some 173000 tons of oil on board, positioned in Venezuelan waters, is suffering water ingress in superstructure/engine room area, with water in some compartments being up to 1.5 meters high.”
“FSO developed a slight starboard list. Mr. Eudis Girot is blaming for it the PDSVA management, which manned FSO with unqualified personnel, incapable of handling FSO machinery,” the report added.
- Venezuela would struggle to contain a major accident from the FSO. The country is already grappling with another oil spill from last month that has coated a stretch of the nation’s Caribbean coastline.
- FSOs in poor shape have been making headlines this year. In July the United Nations branded an abandoned FSO off Yemen with 1.1m barrels of oil onboard as a potential environmental disaster in waiting.
- The decaying, misleadingly named Safer FSO has been moored and left without maintenance near the war-torn Yemeni port of Ras Isa for more than four years, according to the UN.
Vessel information
Floating Storage and Offloading Unit FSO NABARIMA, IMO 9316567, dwt 20700, built 2005, flag Venezuela, operator PDVSA (Petroleum of Venezuela).
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Source: Fleetmon
