Oil ship abandoned off Yemen: UN warns of major oil spill threat
The UN again warned Monday of the imminent threat of a major oil spill by an abandoned oil tanker off Yemen, saying $20 billion would be needed for clean-up operations.
This new warning came ahead of a donor conference scheduled for Wednesday, co-organized by the Netherlands and the UN, to fund emergency operations on the FSO Safer, anchored off the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeida (west). Experts have recently inspected the tanker and the ship’s structure “is about to break”, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen David Gressly told a press briefing in Amman. “The impact of the oil spill would be catastrophic”, he added. The effects on the environment would be enormous. According to our estimates, $20 billion would be needed for cleaning operations alone.
About 45 years old, FSO Safer has not been maintained since 2015 when Yemen is already plunged into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world due to the war between the government and Houthi rebels who control the port of Hodeida. The oil tanker contains the equivalent of just over a million barrels and could break, explode or catch fire at any time, according to experts.
On April 8, the UN called on international donors to commit “swiftly” to disbursing about $80 million to fund emergency operations on the FSO Safer. This amount includes salvage, dismantling, renting another vessel to conserve oil, and personnel and maintenance costs.
“Implementation of the plan cannot begin without donor funding”, the UN stressed, calling for “rapid financial commitments” in the face of a “ticking time bomb”. The intervention should begin as early as mid-May.
