An online donor conference will be held on May 4 to try to fill a $29 million gap in funding needed to safely remove oil from an abandoned tanker off Yemen's coast, the UN said on Thursday.
The FSO Safer has not been serviced since Yemen's devastating civil war broke out in 2015 and was left abandoned off the rebel-held port of Hodeidah, a critical gateway for shipments into the country heavily dependent on emergency foreign aid.
Seeking to avoid a damaging oil spill in the Red Sea, the UN Development Programme in March took the unprecedented step of purchasing its own supertanker to remove more than a million barrels of oil from the beleaguered 47-year-old ship.
Nautica, the supertanker purchased by the UNDP, is on its way to the region and should first make a stop in Djibouti in early May.
The entire operation is expected to cost $148 million, but prior funding drives have come up short.
“We urgently need to close the $29 million funding gap for the emergency operation and raise the additional funds needed to ensure safe long-term storage of the oil,” said David Gressly, UN co-ordinator for Yemen.
The UK and the Netherlands are organising the May 4 online conference, which has an “aim of fully funding both phases of the Safer project” according to a UN statement on Thursday.
The first recovery phase will cost $129 million, of which only $99.6 million has been pledged, the UN said. It estimates the second phase will cost a further $19 million.
“An enormous oil disaster is looming, which could have serious humanitarian, environmental and economic implications. But we now have a chance to prevent that disaster,” said Dutch trade and development minister Liesje Schreinemacher.
The UNDP also announced on Thursday that it had finalised a contract with SMIT Salvage, a subsidiary of the Dutch company Boskalis, to transfer the oil from the Safer to the Nautica and to prepare the tanker for towing once it has been emptied.
A SMIT vessel was due to leave on Thursday for the Red Sea loaded with “generators, hydraulic pumps and other specialised equipment to carry out the operation on the Safer, which no longer has functioning systems,” the UNDP said. The start of operations is expected sometime in May.
The Safer's 1.1 million barrels of oil is four times as much as that spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, one of the world's worst ecological catastrophes, according to the UN.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More on Quran memorisation:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPEC%20SHEET
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Ten10 Cricket League
Venue and schedule Sharjah Cricket Stadium, December 14 to 17
Teams
Maratha Arabians Leading player: Virender Sehwag; Top picks: Mohammed Amir, Imad Wasim; UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Zahoor Khan
Bengal Lions Leading player: Sarfraz Ahmed; Top picks: Sunil Narine, Mustafizur Rahman; UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Rameez Shahzad
Kerala Kings Leading player: Eoin Morgan; Top picks: Kieron Pollard, Sohail Tanvir; UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Imran Haider
Pakhtoons Leading player: Shahid Afridi; Top picks: Fakhar Zaman, Tamim Iqbal; UAE players: Amjad Javed, Saqlain Haider
Punjabi Legends Leading player: Shoaib Malik; Top picks: Hasan Ali, Chris Jordan; UAE players: Ghulam Shabber, Shareef Asadullah
Team Sri Lanka Cricket Will be made up of Colombo players who won island’s domestic limited-overs competition
Company%20profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
