Yemen: $33 million pledged to address decaying oil tanker threat

Yemen: $33 million pledged to address decaying oil tanker threat

THE HAGUE — Donors on Wednesday pledged $33 million toward a UN-coordinated plan to prevent an aging oil tanker moored off the west coast of Yemen from sparking a potential ecological and humanitarian disaster. The FSO Safer, which is holding more than a million barrels of oil, has been described as a “time bomb” because it is at risk of causing a major spill, either from leaking, breaking apart or exploding. The commitments were made at a pledging conference in The Hague, co-sponsored by the UN and the Netherlands, marking the start of efforts to raise the $144 million required for the plan. “We are grateful to the donors that committed funding today at very short notice and look forward to receiving further commitments from those that have not yet pledged. When we have the funding, the work can begin,” said David Gressly, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen. The FSO Safer was constructed in 1976 as an oil tanker and converted to a floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility a decade later. At 376 meters long, it is among the largest oil tankers in the world. The crude oil it holds is four times the amount spilled