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Tankers turn away from Venezuela due to sanction threat

The 'Seadancer', operated by Greek firm Thenamaris Ships Management and chartered by Thai refiner Tipco Asphalt, returned to Gibraltar after waiting in the Atlantic Ocean for a week after the company had dropped plans to use the vessel, which had previously been on course for waters off the coast of Venezuela at Amuay. The 'Seadancer' was scheduled to load 1 million barrels of Venezuela’s Boscan crude for shipping to Malaysia’s Kemaman refinery, operated by Tipco. Another vessel operated by Thenamaris that had loaded crude in Venezuela in February, the 'Seahero', was blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department last week. A second Malta-flagged tanker expected in Venezuela, the 'Novo', made a U-turn this week in the Caribbean. The vessel was scheduled to transport one million barrels of Hamaca crude in June to Singapore. A loading window assigned for the 'Novo' was canceled on June 6, 2020, after the chartering contract was suspended. The tanker is operated by Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd, which also manages the Chios I, blacklisted last week by the U.S. Treasury. As word spread on the possibility of more Venezuela-related shipping sanctions to come, at least three more very large crude carriers (VLCCs) - the 'Boston', 'Commodore' and 'Respect' - exited Venezuelan waters over the weekend to anchor in the Eastern Caribbean 77 tankers had called at Venezuela’s main oil ports since December, more than 2% of the global fleet, and so were potentially at risk of sanctions.