24APR2019 - NEWS - Valero puts blame on Trafigura group for bad fuel supplied to National shipping company - Saudi Arabia

A subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp. is facing a trio of federal lawsuits accusing it of selling marine bunker fuel last year that damaged ship engines. Last week, Valero told the court in one of the lawsuits that another company, Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd., was to blame.

The Trafigura Group in February 2018 sold Valero more than 100,000 barrels of fuel, which was added to Valero's stock, according to Valero. The stock fuel was then sold by Valero to the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia in March 2018, according to a lawsuit filed last month.

The Saudi Arabian company said in its lawsuit that the fuel damaged the engine of one of its ships, causing it to drift at sea for two days and then sit at an Egyptian port for six days while the damage was fixed.

Between repairing the ship and replacing the bad fuel, the Saudi Arabian company said it lost over $1 million. It's seeking to recover that sum from Valero, which in turn has sued Trafigura to recover any damages it has to pay in the suit.

"The alleged contamination was caused in whole or in part because Trafigura defectively designed and/or defectively manufactured the Trafigura fuel oil due to an error in the manufacturing process and/or failed to provide adequate warnings and/or instructions concerning the Trafigura fuel oil," according to Valero.

Published by Editor - www.Livebunkers.com at 24-Apr-2019 07:55:55 [UTC] , contact editor at editor@livebunkers.com