Action costs 143 million
From Monday, the UN will start pumping oil from a tanker that is ready for the scrap heap
07/23/2023, 5:38 p.m
More than a million barrels of oil are stored on the ailing tanker “FSO Safer” off the coast of Yemen. Should the tanker break up, experts fear an environmental catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. To prevent the worst, the UN wants to pump out oil from Monday.
The pumping of more than 200 million liters of oil from a dilapidated tanker off the coast of civil war-torn Yemen is scheduled to begin this Monday. This was announced by Achim Steiner, head of the UN Development Program (UNDP). Steiner, who coordinates the action, justified the postponement with a “small technical problem”. “It’s nothing dramatic.” The floating barriers around the tanker “FSO Safer” and the hoses have already been laid.
Many had expected the campaign to start this Sunday. According to the latest estimate, 1.37 million barrels of oil (about 218 million liters) are stored on the dilapidated ship, which has not been maintained for years. If the tanker breaks up, experts in the Red Sea fear a serious environmental disaster.
“Where are the oil and gas companies?”
The UN program has bought a tanker onto which the oil is to be pumped. It is already next to the “FSO Safer”. The entire operation, including towing and disposal of the scrap tanker, is said to cost 143 million dollars (around 128 million euros). Steiner said a sum of $20 million was not yet covered. Germany is one of the most generous donors. “But everyone can always do something more.”
But Steiner also addressed large companies: “Where are the oil and gas companies in the world that can contribute more here?” Industry umbrella organizations have so far raised only twelve million dollars.
The roughly 45-year-old FSO Safer, which served as a floating oil storage and offloading terminal and is moored off the strategic city of Hodeidah, has not been serviced since the war in Yemen between government forces and Houthi rebels began in 2015. According to experts, the old tanker can break, explode or catch fire at any time. Yemen – the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula – has been in civil war since Houthi rebels overran large areas of the country in 2014. 21 million people there are dependent on help. The United Nations speak of one of the greatest humanitarian crises in the world.