By Jonathan Saul and Marianna Parraga

LONDON/HOUSTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) – An settlement to construct oil tankers in Iran for Venezuela has been left in limbo years after it was introduced as Western sanctions plus disagreements over funds and supply phrases took their toll, sources accustomed to the matter say.

The deal was heralded in 2006 with a lot fanfare by Tehran and the socialist authorities of then-president Hugo Chavez to construct 4 oil tankers in Iran on behalf of Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA as a part of a wider world order for 42 ships.

According to sources and backed up by delivery information, the Iranian order was by no means accomplished.

A former adviser to PDVSA’s maritime subsidiary concerned within the deal stated the imposition of more durable sanctions in 2012, together with banking, insurance coverage and delivery restrictions, weighed on the deal, making the procurement of insurance coverage robust.

Finding classification cowl – which verifies security and environmental requirements for ships and is important for securing insurance coverage in addition to port entry – grew to become nearly unimaginable.

“We faced problems related to sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe against Iran that were extremely difficult to solve. We went to several classification societies and all of them said the vessel couldn’t be classified,” the previous adviser stated.

“To have the tanker insured at an affordable rate was almost impossible and in all the paperwork we tried to do we were exposing ourselves to sanctions.”

Iranian and PDVSA officers couldn’t be reached for remark. PDVSA was hit by U.S. sanctions in 2011 after it delivered no less than two refined merchandise cargoes to Iran.

Despite a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that led to the removing on Saturday of assorted sanctions equivalent to oil, delivery and banking, a resumption of the tanker pact is unlikely, sources say, because of an absence of curiosity by cash-strapped PDVSA.

Data collated by UK-headquartered maritime know-how firm Pole Star confirmed three of the 4 tankers – aframax-class vessels every capable of carry as much as 700,000 barrels of oil – have been canceled.

Only one vessel was constructed and has been renamed 3 times, most just lately referred to as Arita.

Ship-tracking information reveals the now Iranian-flagged ship anchored near the port of Bushehr since Iran introduced it completed in late 2014.

Shipping sources confirmed the vessel by no means set sail amid issues associated to earlier sanctions coupled with disagreements between PDVSA and Iran’s shipyard Sadra over funds and supply phrases.

Shipping databases listed its proprietor as Sorena International Shipping Corp working from an industrial zone in Oman, with its final useful proprietor listed as unknown. The firm couldn’t be reached for remark.

One ship trade supply stated it was seemingly that Iran was utilizing the vessel to retailer oil, serving to in efforts to carry unsold shares of crude and by-product product condensate at sea.

“Based on the vessel’s movements, it is very feasible this vessel has become part of Iran’s floating storage fleet and has helped park unsold stocks for now,” the supply stated.

Oil held by Iran in floating storage is estimated by delivery sources to be over 40 million barrels because the nation struggles with offloading provides because of a world glut. Sources say as many as 22 to 26 tankers are holding oil, which is predicted to hit world markets. (Editing by Dale Hudson)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.