International efforts to resolve the crisis of Safer Reservoir.. Will it succeed?
The European Union (EU) has announced €3 million to support the implementation of the UN Coordinated Operational Plan to address the threat posed by the Red Sea floating oil tank Safer, which the Houthi terrorist militia uses as a tool to blackmail civil society.
Despite the Houthi militia’s unclear positions regarding international efforts to resolve the Safer crisis, and their failure to abide by their pledges to complete the UN’s plans to empty the reservoir and transfer it to another place for recycling, the UN raised about $33 million less than a week ago to prevent an environmental and humanitarian disaster off the coast of Yemen, at which time the Netherlands pledged about $8 million, according to Euro News. Other countries that pledged include Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Qatar, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
The EU is working with its international partners to support a coordinated UN plan to reduce the threat of a catastrophic oil spill of the tanker Safer.
A statement from EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said: “The rescue of this tanker is also a very good example of international cooperation to prevent a full-scale disaster, which will affect the livelihoods of millions of Yemenis, fishermen and tourism workers in the Red Sea region”, he said, stressing at the same time that “the EU will continue its efforts to reach regional and international partners to ensure that the full funding requirements for the operation are met”.
The 376-meter vessel contains more than 1 million barrels of light crude, four times the amount released by the Exxon Valdez known in Alaska more than 30 years ago. The massive leak will be a humanitarian and environmental disaster, and will cost the region tens of billions of dollars in clean-up operations and economic costs.
According to UN estimates, “more than 200,000 Yemenis working in the fishing industry could lose their livelihoods overnight. Tourism in distant places like Egypt would be affected, and shipping through the Bab al-Mandab and the Suez Canal could stop”.
