PDVSA Terminal 'recovering' after Oil Spill
Shipping operations at one of three docks of Venezuela's main crude exporting port have "recovered" after a "minor" oil spill occurred over the weekend, state oil company PDVSA said on Wednesday, without saying how big the spill was. A spill occurred while loading a vessel bound for India at Jose port's eastern dock, union and shipping sources told Reuters on Tuesday, and also affected other tankers close to the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Nave Quasar, chartered by India's Reliance Industries. PDVSA confirmed the spill on Wednesday and said the situation was under control. "Expert oil industry workers activated a contingency plan over the weekend after a minor incident occurred in the maritime terminal, where an oil spill happened during loading operations," PDVSA said in a statement.
$475M Ferry Deal Eagerly Awaited
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government will take the needs of domestic shipbuilders into account when it awards a $475.1 million contract for naval ferries. "It is important we take this decision not just on best commercial grounds, but... the best grounds and interests of the shipbuilding industry in this country," he told parliament. But Blair, facing pressure from shipbuilders and oil industry workers fighting to stop the contract going abroad, also said his government was bound by strict European Union rules in awarding the contract. "We're bound in these procurement contracts, since they are not defense contracts as such, we are bound by these procurement contract rules of the European Union, the same way that every other country is," Blair said.
