Press Release – Minimal to no risk of oil spill from vessel

– Update on Oil Tanker FSO Nabarima in Caribbean Sea

The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) wishes to notify the general public that based on assessments conducted by Trinidad and Tobago and the efforts to relieve the FSO NABARIMA of its cargo and the ongoing remedial works being conducted, there is minimal risk of an oil spill in the Gulf of Paria.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister Franklin Khan says as of yesterday, “the FSO Nabarima is upright and stable with no visible tilt and there is no imminent risk of tilting or sinking.”

He said that the three-man team from T&T that assessed the situation reported that major maintenance was ongoing on the vessel with pumps and electrical motors being repaired and replaced as needed. The team’s report states the maintenance programme as being “quite satisfactory.”

The Guardian Newspaper reports that the Venezuelans and PDVSA had started to offload the vessel. This started on Tuesday with the arrival of PDVSA’s Aframax ship, Icaro – a much smaller vessel than Nabarima.

The team therefore recommends the transfer of oil from the vessel be done by a much larger vessel which will reduce the offload time and logistics of the transfer as “this will reduce the possibility of an environmental incident occurring in the Gulf of Paria,” Khan said.

The CDC will continue to liaise with its local, regional and international counterparts to ensure the situation is adequately monitored and that no threats are posed to Guyana.