Yemen oil tanker at risk of disaster

Public help avoid huge oil disaster - Man-made disasters 1st August 2022

A crowdfunding campaign's been launched by the United Nations (UN) to raise money for the safe transfer of a million barrels of crude oil from a decaying supertanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast.

The FSO Safer's had almost no maintenance since the start of Yemen's civil war in 2014. The 376 metre tanker's carrying an estimated 1.14m barrels of crude oil. The UN's warned that the corroded supertanker will soon break up or explode, causing an environmental disaster.

Work to prevent this happening has been delayed due to a lack of sufficient financial backup. In total, the Safer process will cost about $144 million – an estimate that also includes a long-term storage solution for the oil. However, $20 billion would be required for a clean-up operation following a massive oil spill from the tanker.

The FSO Safer began life as a supertanker in 1976, but it was later converted into a storage base for oil. It's positioned close to the Ras Isa oil terminal, which is currently controlled by Yemen's Houthi fighters.

Officials have warned that the ship could fall apart or explode any moment – a disaster that would have extremely damaging effects on the countries and marine life along the coast, and on global trade routes across the Red Sea.

The specialised task of transferring the oil, which will take four months, would need to be completed before the onset of winter. Seasonal high winds and strong currents are expected in the region from autumn, which would threaten the ageing tanker.

The UN has described the supertanker dilemma as a “time bomb”. It's so far raised just part of the $80 million needed for the removal of the oil.

The organisation's now turned to individuals for donations to add to those already given by UN member countries. It's hoping it's not too late.