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A loaded VLCC, longer than three football fields, requires a 75-foot deep channel and a huge turning radius.

“Why take a chance and mess it up? All it would take is one accident with a VLCC. That would cause harm that would last for years.”

Over 330 metres long, eight storeys high and double hulled to prevent spillages, it was classed as a VLCC, or very large crude carrier.

For example, a VLCC, one of the biggest oil tankers at sea, will pay 25 percent more for its fuel, or an extra $500,000 on top of normal bill of $2 million, for a typical 25-day voyage from the Middle East to Japan.

The third tanker that supposedly began operating last year, the Carabobo VLCC, ordered in 2010 from Chinese shipyard Bohai, was not ready when Venezuelan and Chinese officials held a christening event for it in September 2012.