Update: Unspecified technical problems continue delay in unloading Russian Tanker

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Unloading of Russian Tanker in Oman Delayed Again By Saleh al-Shaibany

MUSCAT, Oman (Reuters) - The operation to unload oil from a Russian tanker detained in Oman on suspicion of smuggling Iraqi crude was once again delayed on Wednesday on technical issues, Russian and Omani officials said.

``The technical procedures involved get a little complicated but engineers here are confident that they can unload the tanker in a day or two,'' a representative of the ship owners told Reuters on Wednesday. He gave no further details.

The official Oman News Agency (ONA) also reported that technical problems had prevented unloading of oil from the Volgoneft-147.

Officials had earlier expected the unloading of the tanker to take place on Tuesday by Oman Refinery Co after routine technical tests. They had said Tuesday's operations were being hampered by complicated technical procedures and choppy seas and expected unloading to start on Wednesday.

Russian officials have said they expect the tanker, which was seized last week by a multinational patrol enforcing U.N. sanctions on Iraq, to be released after unloading.

Oman -- one of the states controlling the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil export route at the mouth of the Gulf -- has said the tanker will be free to leave once unloading is completed. The ship arrived in the Gulf Arab state on Monday.

The usual procedure if a vessel is found to be carrying smuggled Iraqi oil is to confiscate the cargo and sell it on behalf of the United Nations.

The head of Oman's foreign minister's office, Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi, said on Monday that ``there is no need for any additional measures.''

The U.S. Navy in the Gulf says evidence ``conclusively'' shows the tanker was smuggling oil from Iraq in violation of sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Iraqi oil exports must be authorized by the United Nations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Moscow was conducting its own investigation. Russia had earlier said the tanker was carrying Iranian heavy fuel oil, loaded in Iran.

Link:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000209/wl/russia_tanker_6.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 09, 2000

Answers

"Technical issues" ???

On every tanker I ever shipped, to unload, the deck apes connected the shore gang's pipes to the ship's deck manifold and the electrician started the ship's electric pumps. Nothing technical about it. No computers, no chips, no electronics.

-- bz (beezee@statesville.net), February 09, 2000.


More likely one side or the other in the dispute is wanting to delay for diplomatic reasons, and cite "technical reasons" so as not to sound as if they're really trying to delay things.

If it really is a technical problem that could be something as dumb as nobody having the right connectors or right size wrench to fit the Omani and Russian pipework together.

-- gubbins (gubbins@doofers.doo), February 10, 2000.


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