Two aging, very large crude carriers (VLCCs) operated by a sanctioned Greek shipowner have departed Venezuela laden with oil, expected to reach a storage facility in the Bahamas as early as next week, according to several shipping sources.
The Marbella, laden with 1.75mn bl of Merey, departed from Venezuela on 11 January and is set to arrive on 19 January at the Liwathan B.O.S. crude terminal, about 28 miles east of Freeport, Bahamas, according to vessel tracking service Vortexa. The Rene, laden with 1.31mn bl of Merey, is reported to have departed Venezuela on 1 January and will arrive at the terminal on 24 January.
Both vessels are more than 20 years old and appear to have been part of the "dark fleet" of vessels that have carried sanctioned crude from Iran and Venezuela. They are both effectively controlled by Altomare SA, according to Kpler, a Greece-based shipowner sanctioned by the US' Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for its involvement in transporting Iranian crude on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan. Neither of the vessels appear on the US' OFAC sanctions list, however.
It is not clear if either ship is part US-approved operations underway by trading firms Trafigura and Vitol to sell 30mn-50mn bls of Venezuelan crude, with priority given to US buyers. Trafigura loaded a cargo of Venezuelan crude this week, a shipbroker told Argus, as expected following comments from the company's chief executive at the White House last week. Neither firm responded to Argus questions before publication.
The US appears to have chosen to issue private waivers as opposed to issuing a "general license" to allow state-owned PdV to sell crude cargoes to any market participant.
The Liwathan terminal is VLCC-capable, meaning shippers offloading crude stored there would have the option to ship directly to Asia via VLCC.
Tanker rates on the rise
The potential for more Venezuelan crude to go on compliant ships instead of dark fleet tankers following the US' capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro earlier this month was a key factor in the runup for tanker rates in the first half of this week, both for VLCCs and for short-haul Aframax rates.
The bellweather US Gulf coast (USGC)-China VLCC rate hit a more than three-year high of $14.5mn on Wednesday, equivalent to $6.96/bl, up by 64pc since 6 January. The Caribbean-USGC Aframax rate rose by 29pc since 7 January to $3.78/bl, nearly matching a multi-year high. A rush of Asia-bound cargo demand following a lull in chartering activity over the holidays has also contributed to the rate gains.
