No PDV Marina ships in dry dock ... two awaiting repairs

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, March 30, 2003 By: Thomas Allsap

Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 08:39:27 +0000 From: Thomas Allsap allsapt@pdvsa.com To: Editor@Vheadline.com Subject: Re: Half of Venezuela's merchant navy tankers

Dear Mr. O'Donoghue: With regards to your article, it seems to be short of fact and long on fiction.

1. Five of 13 is nearer a third and not half, as per your headline.

2. PDV Marina is not the Venezuelan Merchant Navy. This is a much larger fleet that incorporates all merchant ships flying the Venezuelan flag.

3. At present, there are no PDV Marina ships in dry dock. Two ships are awaiting repairs. These are "Ambrosio" and "Paria".

4. "Paria" and "Caura" have not lost their international classification. On "Paria," the Certificate of Class is in suspension pending outstanding surveys that were due to be completed by 31-12-02. The certificates on "Caura" are all in date and she is free to trade when her next cargo is nominated. The only "lack of maintenance" involved was the failure of the previous PDV Marina management to dry dock "Paria" last December.

5. the asphalt carrier "Inciarte" does not have a split, nor is she in danger of losing her certification. The ship did have a split in a ballast tank that was discovered when we were carrying out a thorough inspection after the ship was recovered from the striking staff (to check for sabotage). The damage was clearly not new and the ship had been trading for some considerable time with this damage. Repairs have been completed and, for the last week, "Inciarte" has been waiting for an asphalt cargo and is due to load and sail shortly.

6. "Ambrosio" does have damage in a ballast tank and also on two main cargo loading/discharging lines on deck.  Again, the damage was discovered during the thorough inspection carried out after recovering the ship. We consider that the previous management were quite negligent and criminal in that they did not discover and repair the damages when "Ambrosio" dry docked last year (2002). The damages were very obvious.

7. "Moruy" does not have problems with the main engine. When we recovered the ship, both main boilers were in damaged condition. We repaired one, traded the ship safely for a few coastal voyages, and then brought her back to anchor whilst we repaired the other boiler (the ship is perfectly capable of operating safely with only one boiler operative). This work was completed on Friday and the ship will continue operations.

8. "Pilin Leon"  is not at anchor with engine problems. The ship is due to arrive off Bajo Grande tonight to discharge a multi-grade cargo.

9. there are 11 out of 13 tankers operational, 3 waiting for cargo and 8 loading or discharging or sailing between ports.

I do not know where you obtained your information from but I believe you will now realize that it was wildly wrong.

Yours faithfully, Captain Thomas Allsop allsapt@pdvsa.com Safety & Quality Auditor PDV Marina S.A.