By: Staff Writer
October 4, 2024
Four people are confirmed dead in a Venezuelan barge sinking last week as the country’s state run oil company scrambles to recover from the latest disaster.
Another 19 people were successfully rescued on September 26 at the accident site, the report said. But PDVSA said rescue work to find the four missing people has not finished.
“PDVSA reports the unfortunate sinking of barge Chantase G of company SOSCA, provider of oil well maintenance services, in Lake Maracaibo due to the poor weather conditions affecting the area,” the company said in a release.
Venezuela’s oil industry continually crumbles under the weight of US sanctions that has led to closed markets which has created an atmosphere of under-investment in the country’s oil sector.
Incidents involving barges that carry Venezuelan oil and fuel between domestic ports and to the Caribbean have become frequent. A large fuel oil spill near Tobago from a capsized barge navigating from Venezuela hit several Caribbean nations in March.
In February, another barge on its way from Venezuela sunk off the coast of Tobago.
Pozuelo’s Bay is the site of a major port for the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and is also used by PDVSA for ship-to-ship oil transfers. Imagery discovered by Bellingcat shows that the barge began leaking oil as early as February 3, immediately after leaving Pozuelo’s Bay, and that it appears to have capsized by the morning of February 6.
Tobago authorities have called on those responsible for the barge to come forward and face accountability. As of late last week, the oil slick resulting from the spill extended some 90 miles into the Caribbean.
According to Trinidad and Tobago authorities, the Gulfstream was towed by a tugboat named the Solo Creed, on a journey that was bound for Guyana from Panama before it became stranded off the coast of Tobago. Using AIS data and satellite imagery, Bellingcat was able to follow the Solo Creed and Gulfstream on almost every day of their doomed voyage.
Venezuela has not come forward to claim the sunken vessel in February off the Tobago coast and there is no indication they will lead the clean up effort of this barge that sunk last week.