UN begins an operation to avoid an oil catastrophe in Yemen

The UN-led operation to transfer one million barrels of oil from the Safer oil tanker, stranded off the Yemeni coast since 1988, begins. 

In a historic UN-led effort to avert an imminent environmental disaster, the transfer of one million barrels of oil from the ship Safer has begun off the coast of Yemen. The vessel has been stranded in the Red Sea since 1988, and its maintenance operations were interrupted in 2015 due to the ongoing civil war in Yemen, putting it at risk of rupturing or exploding. 

The ambitious operation, which began today at 10:45 Yemeni time (7:45 GMT), is being carried out by maritime salvage company SMIT Salvage. Oil is being pumped from the damaged Safer to the Yemen replacement vessel in a ship-to-ship transfer that is expected to take approximately 19 days, a crucial step towards averting an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. 

David Gressly, UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, shared the significant development on his official Twitter account. He expressed the gravity of the situation, stressing the delicate nature of the task the UN has undertaken. 

As reported by Newsroom Infobae, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his appreciation for the UN's involvement in the operation, stating that, given the absence of other willing or able parties, the organisation bravely took the risk of executing the intricate procedure. It underlined the importance of the ship-to-ship transfer as a critical measure to prevent a colossal environmental and humanitarian crisis. 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is overseeing the operation, has been working in collaboration with SMIT Salvage to stabilise the Safer since its arrival on the scene on 30 May. With the start of the oil removal operation, the threat of a potential spill that has been looming over Yemen and the countries and economies that depend on the shared Red Sea ecosystem is gradually diminishing, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said. 

UN estimates suggest that a Safer oil spill could far exceed the devastating impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, which stands as one of the largest such catastrophes in history. The urgency of this UN-led effort to transfer oil safely and efficiently cannot be underestimated. The world community remains vigilant as the operation proceeds over the next 19 days.