LOOMING CATASTROPHE
Time is running out to avert a natural disaster from a deteriorating oil tanker abandoned off the coast of war-torn Yemen
“Time is running out” to avert an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe from a deteriorating oil tanker loaded with 1.1 million barrels of crude oil that is moored off the coast of Yemen, the UN environment chief said yesterday.
Inger Andersen told the UN Security Council that an oil spill from the FSO Safer would wreck ecosystems and livelihoods for decades.
“Despite the difficult operational context, no effort should be spared to first conduct a technical assessment and initial light repairs,” he said.
Houthi rebels, who control the area where the ship is moored, have denied UN inspectors access to the vessel to assess the damage and look for ways to secure the tanker by unloading the oil and pulling the ship to safety. But the rebels recently signalled that they would approve a UN mission to the ship.
Internal documents obtained by The Associated Press last month show that seawater has entered the engine compartment of the tanker, causing damage to pipes and increasing the risk of sinking. Rust has covered parts of the tanker and the inert gas that prevents the tanks from gathering inflammable gases has leaked out. Experts say maintenance is no longer possible because the damage to the ship is irreversible.
The UN humanitarian affairs chief, Mark Lowcock, said a leak in the tanker in May “brought us closer than ever to an environmental catastrophe”.
He expressed scepticism about last week’s Houthi offer to allow a UN mission to the ship. He recalled that the Houthis announced a similar initiative in August, only to cancel it on the night before the planned visit.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels control western Yemen’s Red Sea ports, including Ras Issa, 6km from where the FSO Safer has been moored since the 1980s. They are at war with the internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition and the United States.
The UN Environment Programme chief urged the international community to come up with a response plan should an oil spill occur. The tanker could release four times more oil than the notorious Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska in 1989, she said.
“Time is running out for us to act in a co-ordinated manner to prevent a looming environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe,” Anderson said.