Risk of disaster rising as tanker takes on water

CAIRO — The United Nations said an abandoned tanker moored off the coast of Yemen loaded with more than 1 million barrels of crude oil is at risk of rupture or exploding, causing massive environmental damage to Red Sea marine life, desalination factories and international shipping routes.

Internal documents obtained by the Associated Press show that seawater has entered the engine compartment of the tanker, which hasn’t been maintained for over five years, causing damage to the pipelines 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 repairs are no longer possible because the damage to the ship is irreversible.

For years, the U.N. has been trying to send inspectors to assess the damage aboard the vessel known as the FSO Safer and look for ways to secure the tanker by unloading the oil and pulling the ship to safety.

But a European diplomat, a Yemeni government official and the tanker’s company owner said Houthi rebels have resisted. The diplomat said the rebels are treating the vessel as a “deterrent like having a nuclear weapon.” All three spoke on condition of anonymity.

“They do say that openly to the U.N., ‘We like to have this as something to hold against the international community if attacked,’” the diplomat said. “Houthis are definitely responsible for failure of the U.N. to look at the ship.”

Money is also an issue, the diplomat said, adding that the Houthis initially were demanding millions of dollars in return for the oil stored in the tanker. The U.N. is trying to reach an arrangement where money could be used to pay workers where the ship is moored, the diplomat added. Mohammed Ali alHouthi, the rebel leader, blamed the U.S. and Saudis for not letting the rebels sell the oil, saying in a June 18 Twitter post that any “disastrous consequences … God forbid,” that could result from the collapse of the vessel, will be the responsibility of the two countries.

Houthi rebels are in control of the western Red Sea ports, including Ras Issa, 3.7 miles from where the FSO Safer tanker has been moored. They are at war with the internationally recognized government in exile, which is backed by a Saudiled coalition and the United States.

The U.N. has repeatedly warned that delays in taking action to fix the FSO Safer could lead to a manmade environmental disaster four times greater than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Maggie Michael is an Associated Press writer.

I.R. Consilium 2019 Decay is apparent last year on the deck of the FSO Safer, an abandoned tanker moored off the coast of Yemen loaded with more than 1 million barrels of crude oil that is at risk of rupture.