An abandoned Red Sea tanker loaded with more than 1 million barrels of crude oil can explode or break, causing a major environmental and humanitarian disaster.
The UN Security Council has highlighted the risks posed by the FSO Safer tanker, which is moored off the coast of Yemen. The tanker is loaded with 1.1 million barrels of crude oil.
The Security Council told Fox News that it will meet to discuss the tanker at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
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The Houthi rebels, who control the area where the ship is moored, have denied access by UN inspectors to the ship. But in comments obtained by the AP, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric last week said: “Local authorities recently signaled they would approve a UN mission on the site.”
Maxar satellite image of the FSO Safer tanker moored in the port of Ras Issa in Yemen on June 17, 2020.
(Satellite image (c) 2020 Maxar Technologies.)
“Members of the Security Council expressed deep alarm at the increasing risk that the Safer the tanker could rupture or explode, causing an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe for Yemen and its neighbors, “the Security Council said in a statement issued on June 29.” They stressed the need for the Houthis to immediately grant unconditional access to United Nations Technical Experts to assess the condition of the tanker, make possible urgent repairs and make recommendations for the safe extraction of oil, ensuring close cooperation with the United Nations. “
Internal documents obtained by The Associated Press last month show that seawater has entered the tank truck’s engine compartment, which has not been maintained for more than five years, causing pipeline damage and increasing the risk of subsidence. . The rust has covered parts of the tank truck and the inert gas has leaked, preventing the tanks from accumulating flammable gases.
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According to the AP June 26 report, experts say maintenance is no longer possible because damage to the ship is irreversible.
Citing data from the Yemen Central Statistical Organization and the country’s Environmental Protection Authority, Yemen’s environmental website Holm Akhdar warns that damage from the SFO Safer oil spill could cause 115 Yemeni islands to lose their biodiversity. Holm Akhdar also warns that an environmental disaster could cause 126,000 Yemeni fishermen to lose their source of income.
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Holm Akhdar said some 850,000 tonnes of fish are found in Yemeni waters of the Red Sea, and the decomposing tanker endangers 969 species of fish. Some 300 species of coral reefs are also at risk.
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The floating tanker is a Japanese-made vessel built in the 1970s and sold to the Yemeni government in the 1980s to store up to 3 million barrels pumped from the oil fields in Marib, a province in eastern Yemen before will be exported. The ship is 1,181 feet long with 34 storage tanks.
Associated Press contributed to this article.
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