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UN buys huge ship to avert catastrophic oil spill off Yemen
But on Thursday, the UN said it had purchased a crude carrier that would head to Yemen and remove the oil from the stricken ship.
...
The stranded ship - the FSO Safer - was left abandoned off the port of Hodeida after Yemen's civil war broke out in 2015. It has not been serviced since.
It was constructed as a supertanker in 1976 and converted later into a floating storage for oil. It is anchored near the Ras Isa oil terminal, which is controlled by Yemen's rebel Houthi movement.
The 376m (1,233ft) vessel holds an estimated 1.14m barrels of crude oil.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64904985
...
The stranded ship - the FSO Safer - was left abandoned off the port of Hodeida after Yemen's civil war broke out in 2015. It has not been serviced since.
It was constructed as a supertanker in 1976 and converted later into a floating storage for oil. It is anchored near the Ras Isa oil terminal, which is controlled by Yemen's rebel Houthi movement.
The 376m (1,233ft) vessel holds an estimated 1.14m barrels of crude oil.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-64904985
The replacement vessel is now in drydock for modifications and regular maintenance before sailing to the FSO Safer, moored about nine kilometers off Yemen’s Ras Isa peninsula. It is expected to arrive in early May for the operation.
...
A major spill would devastate fishing communities on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, likely wiping out 200,000 livelihoods instantly. Whole communities would be exposed to life-threatening toxins. Highly polluted air would affect millions.
It would also result in the closure of the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef – which are essential to bring food, fuel and life-saving supplies into Yemen, where 17 million people need food assistance. Desalination plants would close, cutting off a water source for millions of people. Oil from the Safer could reach the African coast and affect any country on the Red Sea. The environmental impact on coral reefs life-supporting mangroves and other marine life would be severe. Fish stocks would take 25 years to recover.
The cost of cleanup alone is estimated at $20 billion. Disruptions to shipping through the Bab al-Mandab strait to the Suez Canal could cost billions more in global trade losses every day, as happened after the Ever Given grounded in the Canal in 2021.
https://www.undp.org/news/united-nations-takes-major-step-forward-prevent-catastrophic-oil-spill-red-sea-un-development-programme-signs-agreement-purchase-oil-tanker
...
A major spill would devastate fishing communities on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, likely wiping out 200,000 livelihoods instantly. Whole communities would be exposed to life-threatening toxins. Highly polluted air would affect millions.
It would also result in the closure of the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef – which are essential to bring food, fuel and life-saving supplies into Yemen, where 17 million people need food assistance. Desalination plants would close, cutting off a water source for millions of people. Oil from the Safer could reach the African coast and affect any country on the Red Sea. The environmental impact on coral reefs life-supporting mangroves and other marine life would be severe. Fish stocks would take 25 years to recover.
The cost of cleanup alone is estimated at $20 billion. Disruptions to shipping through the Bab al-Mandab strait to the Suez Canal could cost billions more in global trade losses every day, as happened after the Ever Given grounded in the Canal in 2021.
https://www.undp.org/news/united-nations-takes-major-step-forward-prevent-catastrophic-oil-spill-red-sea-un-development-programme-signs-agreement-purchase-oil-tanker
