Yemen oil tanker at risk of disaster

UN tries to stop huge oil spill - 1st August 2022

The United Nations (UN) is asking the public to help save a supertanker – the FSO Safer. The tanker's situated off the coast of Yemen, in the Red Sea. It contains 1.14 million barrels of oil. But now, the oil's in danger of spilling into the sea.

The FSO Safer was built in 1976. The old tanker's now in very bad condition. It hasn't been looked after since 2014 because of the war in Yemen. Now, experts worry it could break up. If this happens, the oil will damage the environment. It will also be bad for the Yemeni people and international trade. And a clean-up of this size would cost around $20 billion.

As the situation's urgent, the UN now needs $80 million. This money will be used to remove the oil from the FSO Safer. It'll take four months to do this. But it's an emergency. The job needs to be completed before winter. During the winter months, the sea's too rough and the weather's too windy.

The UN hasn't managed to raise enough money from countries. So now it's asking members of the public to give money. Their support could prevent a huge accident, with terrible results.