UN completes first phase of Safer oil transfer in Yemen
The United Nations has announced the transfer of one third of the oil from the tanker Safer, bringing the first phase of the operation to an end. The decaying ship moored off the coast of Yemen, north of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, poses a serious environmental and humanitarian risk.
According to Arab News, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrator Achim Steiner said on Sunday that 360,000 barrels of oil had been pumped from the tanker to a replacement tanker, reducing the risk of an oil spill by almost a third.
The tanker Safer, which has been stranded in the Red Sea since 2015, contains about 1.1 million barrels of crude oil. Experts have warned that a rupture or explosion could cause a massive environmental disaster and affect millions of people who depend on fishing and desalination for their livelihoods and water supply.
The UN has been negotiating for years with the Houthi rebels, who control the area where the tanker is located, to gain access to the tanker for repairs and maintenance. The Houthis finally agreed to allow a UN team to board the tanker in February 2021, after a series of technical problems and delays. The operation is being carried out by the maritime salvage company SMIT Salvage, contracted by the UN team, which includes engineers and divers from different countries, and began transferring the oil on 11 July.
This UN-coordinated operation relies on donations from private companies and public entities contributing $115 million for the prevention of the spill, with a further $28 million needed to complete the transfer operations. The clean-up of the disaster could cost $20 billion if the vessel were to rupture with the oil on board.
The next two weeks will be critical. The spill from this vessel would amount to four times the amount of oil from the Exxon Valdez, and would therefore become the fifth largest oil spill in history. A spill in a country already destroyed by years of civil war, and where 17 million people are in need of food aid.