Iran delivers second oil tanker ordered by Venezuela

An Iranian shipbuilding company has successfully delivered a second large oil tanker ordered by Venezuela during a visit to Iran by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Iranian media reports on Saturday said that the tanker, which is of the Aframax type, was delivered to the Venezuelan customer during a ceremony earlier in the day in Sadra shipbuilding yards in southern Iran.

According to Press TV, Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi and President Nicolas Maduro used a video conference link to watch the ceremony from the Iranian capital Tehran.

Sadra directors and Venezuelan officials also exchanged documents needed for the delivery of the ship in the presence of Raeisi and Maduro, said the reports.

Aframax is an oil tanker with a deadweight between 80,000 and 120,000 metric tons (mt). This is a second such tanker delivered by Iran to Venezuela as part of arrangements between the two countries to counter American sanctions targeting their oil sectors.

The tanker delivered to Venezuela on Saturday can carry 113,000 mt or 750,000 barrels of oil. The 250-meter-long vessel is equipped with a 21,000 horsepower engine and three diesel generators that are capable of producing 900 kilowatts of electricity.

Sadra is a subsidiary of Iran’s elite military force the IRGC and its shipbuilding yards are based along the Persian Gulf coast in Bushehr Province. The company had carried out test sails on the Venezuelan Aframax tanker earlier this week in a ceremony watched by senior IRGC commanders.

Its CEO Ali Zarei said building a third and fourth Aframax tanker by the company, which have reportedly been ordered by Venezuela, will begin soon.  

ME