Public help avoid huge oil disaster - 1st August 2022

The United Nations (UN) has started collecting money from the public to prevent huge amounts of oil – 1.14 million barrels – spilling into the Red Sea from a supertanker.

The tanker, the FSO Safer, was constructed in 1976. The 376 metre tanker is located off the Yemeni coast, near the Ras Isa oil terminal. Since the beginning of Yemen's civil war in 2014, it hasn't been maintained. It's now in serious danger of breaking apart or exploding.

An accident of this size would destroy sea life, as well as local industries along the coast. It would also have a negative effect on international trade, since this is a busy shipping area. The enormous clean-up process would come to approximately $20 billion.

Urgent action is now needed to prevent this from happening. Safely transferring the oil off the tanker to another ship will cost $80 million and require four months of work. It's essential to finish the task before winter arrives. Strong winds and sea currents will increase the risks to the old supertanker.

The UN has successfully raised part of the sum to remove the oil by asking its member countries. But the UN's goal hasn't been reached.

As the situation is so serious, the organisation's taken the unusual step of setting up an online crowdfunding page. This will allow the public to help too. The hope is that individuals' financial support will rescue the supertanker just in time.