The 45-year-old FSO Safer has been anchored off the port of Hodeida, in western Yemen, since the 1980s. The 360 meter long ship serves as a floating storage depot for a large amount of crude oil. But the tanker, which is under the control of Yemeni Houthi rebels, has not been serviced since the outbreak of civil war in Yemen in 2015.
Experts have been warning for years that the old tanker could fall apart, explode or catch fire. That would cause a major environmental disaster in the Red Sea. Maritime trade would also be hit hard. According to a UN statement, the FSO Safer contains “about four times as much oil as was spilled from the Exxon Valdez in 1989,” leading to a major oil spill off the coast of Alaska.
The UN tanker, which was purchased from the Euronav shipping company, is due to arrive at the FSO Safer in early May to transfer the oil.
It is very unusual for the UN to purchase an oil tanker. It is estimated that the entire operation will cost 129 million dollars (more than 121 million euros).
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