Yemen: Health, environment and economy remain under threat from stricken oil tanker

Yemen: Health, environment and economy remain under threat from stricken oil tanker

GENEVA “” There has been no further investigation into the state of the FSO Safer, a stricken tanker anchored just 4.8 nautical miles off the Yemen coast, meaning the risk of a massive oil leak continues to grow with each passing day, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Thursday. In her first briefing since last July, Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), reminded ambassadors that an agreement reached in November with Houthi forces, formally known as Ansar Allah, on the scope of work need to make the vessel secure, had generated hope of a swift resolution. However, due to "political and logistical obstacles“, she said the planned assessment mission has yet to deploy. "As a result, we still do not know the exact condition of the vessel, nor what the best solution would be to deal with 1.1 million barrels of oil in an aging tanker located in an environmentally sensitive area of the Red Sea,“ said Andersen. Devastating repercussions The UNEP chief painted a grim picture of the dire consequences of an oil leak, from health to the economy, impacting up to 670,000 livelihoods. An oil leak could force the vital Hodeidah