UN purchases tanker to store oil from decaying vessel off Yemen

The UN said on Thursday that it has secured the purchase of a large tanker to store about 1.1 million barrels of oil that will be transferred from a decaying vessel off Yemen's coast in a bid to avert an environmental disaster.

The UN Development Programme said it had signed a contract to purchase a crude carrier from major tanker company Euronav that will head to Yemen to remove the oil from the beleaguered FSO Safer.

The replacement vessel is now in dry dock for modifications and regular maintenance before sailing to the FSO Safer, moored about nine kilometres off Yemen’s Ras Isa peninsula, the UNDP said.

The vessel is expected to arrive in early May for the operation, the programme said.

“This would obviously be a major breakthrough,” programme head Achim Steiner told reporters at UN headquarters.

“We hope if all things go according to plan, that the operation of the ship-to-ship transfer would actually commence in early May.”

The FSO Safer, an ageing 1970s-era tanker built to store oil from Yemen’s Marib oilfield, is under de facto control of the Houthi rebels, who occupy a nearby port.

The tanker can store up to three million barrels of oil but currently holds about one million barrels in a rusting hull that officials say is “irreversibly” damaged and leaking.

UK ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward has welcomed the step to salvage the tanker.

“Every day brings us closer to potential catastrophe. If the tanker breaks it would become the fifth largest oil spill in history, devastating plant and animal life in the Red Sea and the Yemeni communities that depend on it,” Ms Woodward said in a statement.

“That’s why the UK pledged £6 million for this emergency operation last summer and we’re grateful to other partners including the Netherlands, the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Germany for contributing. Work must now begin urgently. There is no time to delay.”

The FSO Safer has not been maintained since 2015 because of the conflict in Yemen. It has decayed to the point where there is an imminent risk it could explode or break apart, which would have disastrous effects on the region.

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 and 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 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 countries on the Red Sea.

The environmental impact on coral reefs, life-supporting mangroves and other marine life would be severe, with fish stocks taking 25 years to recover. The cost of clean-up alone is estimated at $20 billion.

Disruptions to shipping through Bab Al Mandeb to the Suez Canal could cost billions more in global trade losses every day, as happened after the Ever Given ran aground in the canal in 2021.

The salvage operation is estimated to cost $129 million, of which $75 million has been received and another $20 million has been pledged, according to the UN.