The Nabarima oil tanker, with a cargo of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil, has been stranded for days off the Venezuelan coast and has begun to sink off the coast of the Paria Peninsula in eastern Venezuela into the maritime space it shares with Trinidad and Tobago.

The risk of the ship wrecking has raised the alarm of environmentalists after in recent days it tilted about 5 cm towards starboard and submerged a few meters, just at the edge of its flotation zone. Both environmentalists and maritime authorities express concern about the possibility of a natural disaster.

Crude oil discharge work is currently underway and it is estimated that it will take several weeks to complete the operation. It is expected to be a success without harm to the environment.