WILLEMSTAD, CARACAS - The Panama-flagged crude tanker Icaro is back in Venezuelan waters after a court-ordered lien was lifted by a court in Curaçao late last week. This was reported by Curaçao Chronicle.

The 99,438t tanker had been ensnared in legal problems since mid-December, when its cargo of Venezuelan Santa Barbara light crude became the target of a judicial lien for unpaid debt by Venezuela´s national oil company PdV.

The lien on the cargo was lifted in February and the vessel discharged the crude into a tank at the PdV-leased Bullen Bay terminal in Curacao. But another creditor, Maritima Venezolana, immediately imposed a separate pre-judgment attachment on the PdV tanker itself.

On 15 March, the court of first instance of Curacao lifted the seizure order on the tanker, which sailed the next day for Venezuela. The judge ruled that Icaro owner Venfleet and the PdV-leased Isla refinery in Curacao are not responsible for the debts of PdV Marina, which is the parent company of Venfleet.

The tanker is currently anchored off of Amuay along with around 20 other vessels, part of a freight backlog caused by US oil sanctions on PdV and a nationwide blackout earlier this month.

The Icaro previously transported crude from Venezuela to Curaçao for processing at Isla. The 325,000 b/d refinery has been shut down for more than a year.