Thread by @TankerTrackers

Iranian VLCC supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of gas condensate suddenly pops up at the José Terminal, Venezuela. Most likely sailed all the way around southern Africa given her transponder was switched off. Name & IMO number has been painted over. Goes by new name: HONEY

For those of you asking why she looks empty. She isn’t. In this photo you can see how high up above water an empty VLCC supertanker looks like. HONEY isn’t carrying heavy crude oil but a light liquid called gas condensate; a natural gas liquid (NGL). Not to be confused with LNG.

As for gas condensate, it is NOT gasoline. It can be refined into things like high octane gasoline and jet fuel with ease (since it is not crude oil) but it will likely be used as a blending agent to improve flow of Venezuela’s very heavy crude oil in order to boost production.

Iran has already sent three tankers full of gasoline. They are in southern Africa. You have seen them over the past few days in our tweets. They’re carrying approximately 131 million liters in total.

Thanks,
/TT

UPDATE: After careful analysis of the video and still photo we received, we have now been able to identify the vessel and have informed our Premium/Plus subscribers. We're only waiting for a satellite photo as additional confirmation, but have examined the entire NITC fleet.

NEWS: Many thanks to @mariannaparraga of @Reuters for consulting with us regarding the Iranian VLCC that reached the José Terminal.

The interesting details of what this tanker did in Iran prior to departing is up on our website (Premium subscribers).

reuters.com/article/venezu…

This satellite photo was captured 2 days ago (2020-09-13) by @planetlabs, showing the Iranian VLCC called HORSE just moments after arriving at the berth at José Terminal, Venezuela. Her name & IMO were painted over. Folks now call her HONEY.