The port of Las Palmas closes a chapter of labor uncertainty and opens one of strategic depth following the agreement reached between the Coordinadora TPA union and the Dutch multinational VT Shipping. The pact, which guarantees the stability of the crew of the Spabunker 30 vessel until the year 2027, arrives at a critical moment of transition in which the European company assumes a prominent role in the supply of fuel in the Archipelago.
The signed document secures the conditions for around twenty professionals and ensures ‘labor peace’ in a company that is currently immersed in an ambitious fleet renewal process. The union has highlighted the willingness of VT Shipping’s management and the mediating role of union delegate Iván Jiménez. However, beyond salary clauses, this agreement is the official confirmation of the Dutch firm’s entry into an operation that, to date, was in the hands of Boluda Tankers.
VT Shipping recently acquired the tank vessel Pearl Khaoyai in Singapore, which is currently docked at the port of Algeciras, flagged in Malta and renamed Valladolid, where it will soon provide bunkering services, according to Puente de Mando. ‘Everything indicates that this is a good and timely purchase, as it is a vessel built in China and launched in April 2023,’ the online newspaper indicates. It is part of a series of seven units from the K series ordered by Consort Bunkers Pte. Ltd.
In Panama, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the tax exemptions granted to the local subsidiary of a Dutch shipping company for alleged evasion. According to documents from the Directorate General of Revenue (DGI) obtained by OCCRP, the VT Shipping International tanker company may have evaded millions of dollars in taxes over more than a decade through tax exemptions granted improperly by the former head of the authority, Publio De Gracia.
The documents highlight that VT Shipping received a tax exemption and other incentives applicable to a duty-free oil zone, despite the fact that this exemption should not have been granted, given that the company only transported fuel. By granting this exemption to VT Shipping, sources of this investigation believe that De Gracia may have abused his authority and exceeded his functions.
