A Venezuelan oil terminal has been hit by fire after a loading hose broke while a tanker was being loaded.
The blaze broke out on Saturday at the Guaraguao facility in Puerto La Cruz, Reuters reported.
The 36,000-dwt Panama-flag product carrier Larko (built 2001) was being supplied with oil at the time.
The tanker was also “affected” by the incident, sources said, but the extent of damage was not clear.
Video footage posted to Twitter showed a fireball burning at the terminal, with black smoke billowing around it.
The fire was extinguished on the same day, but operations were interrupted.
AIS data showed the vessel anchored at the port on Monday.
“In the morning, at the Guaraguao dock, a gasoline loading arm broke, spilling fuel on the deck of the ship and on the dock, causing a fire in that area,” Venezuela’s minister of industries and national production Tareck El Aissami said in a tweet.
The politician added that the dock’s operations were due to be resumed “in a few hours.”
“No injuries were reported and the affected vessel was moved away from the port,” shipping sources told Reuters.
Domestic terminal
The Guaraguao terminal, operated by state-owned producer Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), mainly handles fuel for domestic use.
The tanker’s operator is listed as Asia Charm of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company could not be contacted.
The owner is Dorado Marine of the same city.
The tanker is entered with the West of England Ship Owners Mutual Insurance Association.
The ship has never been detained by port state control inspectors
