Yemen: Emergency plan for environmental bomb Safer discussed
The Yemeni government on Thursday discussed with the United Nations the introduction of unloading equipment for the Safer tanker in its first stage, with the aim of sparing Yemen and the countries bordering the Red Sea a major environmental disaster, in conjunction with the increased risk of oil leaking from the tanker.
This came during a meeting between Deputy Minister of Planning and International Co-operation Dr. Nazar Basuhaib in the interim capital of Aden with UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Yemen Nahed Hussein.
The meeting aimed to discuss the introduction of the equipment needed to start the implementation of the first phase of the UN emergency plan for the floating oil tank Safer, which will cost about $80 million, according to the official Saba agency.
The equipment was brought in under government approval to avert an environmental and humanitarian disaster at Safer in Yemen, the region and the International Shipping Line, in order to begin the implementation of the first phase of the UN plan, which involves the technical handling of the Safer reservoir, which is moored at the port of Ras Isa in Hodeidah province on the Red Sea, by unloading and transporting the tanker’s crude oil to another ship.
The Safer is a floating storage and unloading unit anchored off the western coast of Yemen, 60 kilometers north of Hodeidah port, and used for storing and exporting oil from Marib province’s oilfields.
Without maintenance since 2015, the ship’s crude oil (1.148 million barrels) and gases are a serious threat to the region, and the UN says the ship is a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
