For years, the ailing oil tanker “FSO Safer” has been lying off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea. If the tanker breaks up, an environmental catastrophe threatens. A UN salvage mission now wants to pump 1.1 million barrels of crude oil out of the ship.
The United Nations has begun a mission to recover over a million barrels of crude oil from a ramshackle tanker off the coast of Yemen. The head of the UN development agency UNDP, Achim Steiner, spoke of a “big step” in pumping the oil out of the tanker “FSO Safer”. According to Steiner, the technical experts have now set foot on the “FSO Safer” for the first time – he told the dpa news agency.
In the next seven to ten days, a second ship bought by the United Nations, the “Nautica”, is to drive to the dilapidated tanker so that the oil can be pumped around. The UN operation off the coast of the civil war country is intended to prevent the 1.1 million barrels of oil from escaping uncontrolled and leading to an oil spill with serious consequences.
According to the UN, inspection confirms the dilapidated condition of the ship
The “FSO Safer” has been lying in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen for years and is in danger of breaking up. That would lead to a gigantic oil slick with devastating ecological and economic consequences. “It could be one of the greatest environmental disasters of all time,” Steiner said. Biodiversity, fisheries and tourism in the entire region would be endangered, and one of the most important shipping routes in the world could be severely disrupted. According to Steiner, there is not only a risk of a breakup, but also an explosion from gases that have accumulated in the tank.
An initial inspection confirmed the disastrous condition of the rusty ship, which is more than 45 years old, Steiner said.
Donor conference raised money for rescue mission
The FSO Safer, which has served as a crude oil storage and offloading floating terminal and is anchored off the strategic city of Hodeidah, has not been serviced since the war in Yemen between government forces and Houthi rebels began in 2015.
Last year, the UN, together with the Netherlands, collected money for the operation at a donor conference. The total cost of the project was estimated at around $144 million.