Experts on Yemeni maritime issues have raised concerns over a recent deal between the UN and Yemen’s Houthi rebels to unload a leaky oil platform that threatens to spill its cargo into the Red Sea.
A maritime security analyst and a former UN investigator said the deal might avert environmental chaos, but it also grants the Houthis a free replacement for the FSO Safer, even though the group has reneged on past deals.
“This is a triple win for Houthis, who already sold the oil in the FSO Safer and now will save face without paying one dollar,” said Fernando Carvajal, research director at South24 and a former UN investigator.
“Whatever deal by the UN ends the potential catastrophe at Ras Isa [oil terminal] is a good deal, but keep in mind that this is potentially worse than” previous efforts to broker deals with the Houthis, Mr Carvajal said.
The UN and the Houthis on March 5 signed an agreement to unload about 1.1 million barrels of oil from the vessel, which is stranded 8 kilometres off Ras Isa port on Yemen’s Houthi-held west coast.
The agreement, a copy of which was obtained by The National, says the UN is “committed to providing and supplying a replacement equivalent to the FSO Safer suitable for export” to the rebels within 18 months.
The Houthis are to grant access to the vessel but “bear no financial obligations”, says the deal.
The timeline has yet to be established, as the UN must first raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to carry out the inevitably complicated and delicate maritime operation.
Ian Ralby, chief executive of maritime security consultancy IR Consilium, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the deal but that “time was running out” for the UN to raise cash for an effective operation.
“The devil is definitely in the details and there's a lot that will have to be worked out in order to first implement this initial agreement,” Mr Ralby said.
The Houthis’ replacement vessel, he said, would “preserve the equity” the group has in the FSO Safer so they could carry out long-held plans to export Yemeni crude in the future.
“They see that as being the potential backbone of a future Houthi economy,” Mr Ralby said.
“This would give them the prospect of that or at least maintain that prospect indefinitely.”
A Houthi spokesman did not immediately comment.
Houthi officials have previously approved UN missions to the offshore platform but later changed their minds.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said he would not go “into the details” of the Houthis’ replacement vessel.
“Our focus right now is on dealing with the immediate ecological threat,” Mr Dujarric said.
Environmentalists and the UN have for years warned of the threat posed by the decrepit FSO Safer, which could rupture at any moment and lead to a disaster four times worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill near Alaska.
Peter-Derrek Hof, the Dutch ambassador to Yemen, on Tuesday called the tanker a “ticking time bomb” and voiced support for UN efforts.
A major spill would hurt tourism, fishing and desalination plants across Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti, and impede a shipping lane that carries about 10 per cent of global trade.
Yemen has been mired in civil war since 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital and much of the north, later forcing the government to leave Sanaa.
A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition entered the war in March 2015 at the request of the government.
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%20profile
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Our legal advisor
Rasmi Ragy is a senior counsel at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Prosecutor in Egypt with more than 40 years experience across the GCC.
Education: Ain Shams University, Egypt, in 1978.
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MATCH INFO
Champions League last 16, first leg
Tottenham v RB Leipzig, Wednesday, midnight (UAE)
HWJN
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The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include:
- Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
- Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
- Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
- Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
More on animal trafficking
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
