Yemen oil tanker wreck: Time running out to avert looming catastrophe – Saudi Gazette

Yemen oil tanker wreck: Time running out to avert looming catastrophe – Saudi Gazette

NEW YORK “” Time is fast running out for getting a UN team of experts aboard the Yemeni oil storage vessel Safer, before it spills its cargo of 1.148 million barrels of light crude oil into the Red Sea, triggering what would likely be a massive environmental and economic catastrophe, the Security Council heard on Wednesday.

The condition of the aging vessel, FSO Safer “” officially owned by the government of Yemen, but controlled since 2015 by Houthi rebels “” is deteriorating daily, upping the risk of an oil spill that would wreck ecosystems and livelihoods for decades, said United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) chief Inger Andersen.

The one-time supertanker, built in Japan in 1974, sprung a leak in late May, flooding its engine room with seawater and threatening to destabilize the vessel and spill its cargo, the Council was told.

Heading off disaster"Prevention of such a crisis from precipitating is really the only option,“ Andersen told the Council, which with the exception of Tuesday, has been meeting via video-teleconference since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Despite the difficult operational context, no effort should be spared to first conduct a technical assessment and initial light repairs,“ she said. In the longer term, she