UN buys vessel to remove oil from decaying tanker off Yemen

United Nations : The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has signed an agreement with Euronav to secure the purchase of a large vessel as part of a coordinated operation to remove more than 1 million barrels of oil from a decaying tanker off Yemen’s Red Sea coast that threatens a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said the replacement vessel is now in drydock in China for modifications and regular maintenance before sailing to the Red Sea to be parked alongside the Safer oil tanker for a ship-to-ship transfer, reports Xinhua news agency.
The vessel is expected to arrive in early May for the operation, said Steiner.
The Safer tanker, a 47-year-old vessel that has moored off Yemen and has not been maintained since 2015 because of the conflict in Yemen, has decayed to the point where there is an imminent risk it could explode or break apart, which would have disastrous environmental effects on the region.
The UNDP, which is implementing the high-risk operation as part of the UN-coordinated initiative, has contracted marine salvage company SMIT to finalise a detailed operation plan for the transfer of oil, Steiner told reporters.
Today we signed an agreement to purchase a vessel as part of the @UN -coordinated operation to remove +1 million barrels of oil from the decaying #FSOSafer tanker off #Yemen ‘s coast, which threatens a humanitarian & environmental disaster. https://t.co/VvzT8m6SGo #StopRedSeaSpill pic.twitter.com/h9mmcHQeBV — UN Development (@UNDP) March 9, 2023 “The purchase of this vessel is now a major step forward in our efforts to safely remove the oil from the FSO Safer and avoid the risk of an environmental and humanitarian disaster on a massive scale,” he said.