A six-person skeleton crew on board the decaying FSO Safer stuck off the coast of Yemen since the civil war began in 2014 has done “everything humanly possible” to prevent an oil spill, an expert told The National.
The international community breathed a sigh of relief after the UN gained access to the tanker after nearly a decade of trying to assess its structural integrity, especially when it was found that the ship was in better condition than initially thought.
Part of that is because of the skeleton crew that has been keeping the ship intact, maritime law expert Ian Ralby said.
Mr Ralby has provided consulting services to the parties involved and is in touch with the people who have been keeping the ship in shape.
“There were a couple of near misses – one in April 2019 when part of the hosepipe system fell into the sea,” he said. “The Safer Exploration and Production Operations Company (Sepoc) team did a great job to make sure it didn't cause a catastrophic spill or land on the pipeline when they had to cut the hosepipe.
“They did another amazing job when on May 27, 2020, the pipes burst in the engine room and could've caused damage to the superstructure hull or caused part of the vessel to sink or anchor chains to break.”
Sepoc is a Yemen state-owned company that owned and operated the infrastructure for oil export.
Instances like these, Mr Ralby said, are why the crew should be praised, especially in light of the difficult conditions they have faced in recent years under the watchful eye of armed Houthi militants.
One of the most effective steps the crew took, Mr Ralby and a former high-level Sepoc employee told The National, came when the FSO Safer was converted from a single-hull to a double-hull ship in 2019.
“There was a threat of the oxidation of air compartments and accessibility between the hull and the oil. The crew pumped the oil from the exterior compartments of the ship and filled up the inner compartments, so that instead of 34 half-empty compartments, we had fully filled inner compartments,” Mr Ralby said.
These measures cut the risk of the hull being punctured by a landmine, for example, causing a leak.
Offloading oil plan a 'temporary measure'
Environmentalists may be celebrating the transfer of the Safer's one million barrels of oil to a vessel in better shape, but the plan still leaves much to be desired. The UN and Houthi group, the main two parties involved in the move, have yet to agree what will happen to the oil, meaning the vessel could stay floating off the coast of Yemen for years to come.
In 2014 a project to develop Ras Isa port, where the FSO Safer is moored, into an oil terminal was more than half complete. But when war between the government and Houthi rebels broke out, the project stopped in its tracks.
Ahmed Kulaib was general manager at Sepoc when the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa in 2014. Speaking to The National in June, Mr Kulaib said the more sensible plan would have been to complete that project and take the oil from the FSO Safer to the newly completed terminal, instead of replacing the Safer with the VLCC Nautica, which is about to begin a two-week ship-to-ship transfer of oil.
“The project was supposed to be handed over in November 2015, and was to be a replacement to the FSO Safer where import and export would take place,” Mr Kulaib added.
Mr Ralby said ideally that would have been the case, but in 2020, when the now ongoing UN plan was proposed, the circumstances in Yemen were different.
“The situation now is a lot less threatening than it was in 2020 and a lot of the contextual issues are a bit calmer,” he said. “Now, we don't have a pandemic, oil futures were negative and the Houthis were vying for control of Marib.”
The price of oil plunged in 2020 after the outbreak of Covid-19, reaching historic lows as the market suddenly became oversaturated.
Today, Yemen is in a relative state of calm after a UN-brokered ceasefire between the warring parties expired without a return to violence. Since then, there have been at least two rounds of prisoner exchanges between the Yemeni government, the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, which leads a coalition fighting against the rebels.
So in 2020, replacing the FSO Safer with a seaworthy tanker seemed like a viable option even if it is not the best option today, Mr Ralby said.
The National has contacted the local UN office and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator of Yemen's office for comment on an alternative plan and current progress on where the oil might end up.
“The UN is implementing its 2020 plan and does not have the follow-through planned out for how to get the oil off the water and resolve tensions,” Mr Ralby said.
Replacing the Safer with another tanker is therefore “a temporary measure, not a solution”, he said.
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
Mountain%20Boy
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Long Shot
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan
Four stars
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
Company%20profile
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
More coverage from the Future Forum
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
The%20specs
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The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
