Before pipelines carried the oil, roughly thirty or forty shallow-draft tankers shuttled between Lake Maracaibo and refineries on Aruba and Curaçao. Staying below about 5,000 tons let them work the lake route, and their sturdy hulls tolerated minor contact with its shifting sandy bottom. Conversion removed the oil tanks to create a vehicle deck, squared off the bow for a heavy steel door, fitted two 50-ton derricks, and added a hinged 100-ton ramp. Armour protected the bridge and wheelhouse, while a 40 mm pom-pom, six Oerlikon 20 mm guns, light machine guns, and a smoke mortar provided defence. Accommodation covered 217 troops and 98 crew. The vehicle deck could carry eighteen 30-ton tanks, twenty-two 25-ton tanks, or thirty-three heavy trucks. HMS Bachaquero entered service in August 1941 as the world's first operational LST, though the flat bow made heavy seas punishing.
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Lake tankers become Maracaibo-class landing ships
Shallow-draft Venezuelan lake tankers offered sturdy hulls for conversion, but turning them into bow-loading tank carriers demanded extensive reconstruction.