NEGRA HIPOLITA

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Replacement crew on tanker feared engine trouble

The 30 PDVSA employees aboard the 'Negra Hipólita' were replaced on March 7 in Puerto Cabello. Counterintelligence (Dgcim) handcuffed the 30 crew members, accused of treason, with a possible sentence of 25 years prison for smuggling 126,000 barrels of fuel. From the captain to the cook they were accused of treason for the fuel smuggling. Of the new crew, only three sailors had previously been on the tanker. For the rest it was a completely new ship, so they tried to review plans, computers and the engine log, but information was missing, especially regarding the last details of the journey since the ship departed from the Paraguaná Peninsula. With the new 38 detainees, including the crew of the ship, personnel on duty at the PDVSA dock in Paraguaná and the president of PDV-Marina, Oswaldo Vargas, the Prosecutor's Office was investigating or detaining more than a hundred PDVSA workers. In the afternoon of March 7 the tanker was berthed in Puerto Cabello after the Navy had intercepted the ship that had originally left the Paraguaná Peninsula for Catia La Mar. The capture of the ship took place on March 5 in Aruba's territorial waters, where it carried out the transfer of fuel to tankers such as the 'Panaman Glory'. One of the concerns of the new crew was the state of the ship's engine which was believed to be in need of urgent repair is needed. They considered that inert gas was lacking to clean the pipes that allow the fuel to be transferred ashore. The new crew members received a speech from a Navy officer and a PDVSA manager, who informed him that they were trusted company personnel.

Tanker and crew arrested for fuel smuggling

At least 38 workers of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA were arrested on March 6, 2020, for smuggling fuel and have been accused of treason. Among those arrested is Oswaldo Vargas, president of PDV Marina, a maritime subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela. The "Negra Hipólita" of the PDV Marina fleet had illegally sold its cargo, transferring it to another ship sailing under a Colombian flag in the Netherlands Antilles. The ship left Paraguaná on March 5, loaded with 126,000 barrels of fuel bound for the port of La Guaira, near Caracas, but changed its route and turned off the AIS and GPS. It was diverted to border maritime boundaries between Venezuela and the Netherlands Antilles, where the illegal sale of hydrocarbons to unknown subjects was carried out. The Venezuelan Navy towed the "Negra Hipólita" to Puerto Cabello where it was inspected. Six members of the dispatch service of the Paraguaná Refining Center, and 30 crew members of the "Negra Hipólita" were arrested.

Ships arrested for illegal bunkering

The "Negra Hipolita" was among on the whole three vessels having been arrested in Venezuela during the last week for allegedly illegal fuel on board. Another was the Greek tanker "Marios G" and the the third one the Panama flagged tanker "Paola Valentina". The "Marios G" was found to have 1000 barrels of illegal bunker on board, four tons were found on the "Paola Valentina". At least nine crew members of the ships have been arrested.