Critical funding and timely action are needed to prevent a decaying tanker anchored close to Yemen’s coastline from sparking a major oil spill, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the country said on Friday in Washington DC
David Gressly outlined plans to address the threat posed by the FSO Safer, described as a time bomb sitting off Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
The 45-year-old floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility holds 1.1 million barrels of oil, or four times the amount of the Exxon Valdez - the tanker that caused one of the greatest environmental disasters in United States’ history.
It is at imminent risk of spilling a massive amount of oil due to leakages or an explosion.
“If it were to happen, the spill would unleash a massive ecological and humanitarian catastrophe centered on a country already decimated by more than seven years of war,” said Dr. Miles
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