A UN-led operation years in the making to prevent a large-scale oil spill from occurring off Yemen’s Red Sea coast has made major gains. The replacement vessel Nautica has arrived at Yemen’s Hodeidah port and the UN has begun transferring over 1.1 million barrels of oil to this replacement vessel from the decaying FSO Safer supertanker. This operation will be the first of its kind..and is fraught with risks. This transfer is aimed at preventing a catastrophic spill in the Red Sea. Moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast since 2015, the FSO Safer is a decaying supertanker that could spill more than a million barrels of oil into the Red Sea. It is anchored near a terminal controlled by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who in 2015, had seized large parts of the country. The 47-year-old supertanker was left abandoned and has been out of service since the civil war broke out in Yemen eight years ago. The tanker has not been properly maintained since it was left abandoned and is situated in an area littered with mines. There is a risk of explosion because of the gases and the FSO Safer could also fall apart since the lack of maintenance has weakened its structural integrity.

#FSOsafersupertanker #Yemenoilspill #Nauticavessel
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