UN makes 'major breakthrough' to prevent Yemen oil spill disaster

The United Nations (UN) has bought a ship to remove oil and avoid a potentially catastrophic spill from a tanker decaying for years off the coast of Yemen, officials said Thursday (March 9).

In an unusual step, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said it signed a contract to purchase a crude carrier from major tanker company Euronav that will head to Yemen to remove the oil from the beleaguered FSO Safer.

The 47-year-old ship, loaded with 1.1 million barrels of oil, has not been serviced since a September 2014 coup staged by the Iran-backed Houthis in Sanaa ignited Yemen's ongoing war.

The Safer was left abandoned off the Houthi-controlled port of al-Hodeidah, a critical gateway for shipments into Yemen, which is heavily dependent on emergency foreign aid.

UNDP chief Achim Steiner called the deal a "major breakthrough", saying the effort will "avoid the risk of an environmental and humanitarian disaster on a massive scale".

Steiner said the vessel would sail within the next month, and that if all goes to plan, "the operation of the ship-to-ship transfer would actually commence in early May".

UN officials have voiced fears the ship would crumble, unleashing an oil spill that would severely impair foreign aid and cost some $20 billion to clean up.

An ecological disaster could clog the Bab al-Mandeb strait, taking a major toll on the global economy by holding up the Suez Canal.

A risky undertaking

The UN had been searching for years for a solution and appealed for a ship donation or a lease.

It finally decided to buy the ship, described as the only one available on the market, after failing to find another option, with prices in the shipping industry spiking in the past year from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We had no choice, frankly, but to buy a vessel," David Gressly, who co-ordinates UN humanitarian relief in Yemen, said by video-link from Aden.

"The fact that we have gotten to this step is already bringing a sense of relief here in Yemen," he said.

The salvage operation is estimated to cost $129 million, of which $75 million has been received and another $20 million has been pledged, the UN said.

Steiner warned that the UN could still suspend the operation if it does not find the remaining funds.

The United States, which has contributed $10 million, welcomed the UN announcement and called on other nations as well as private donors to fill the funding gap.

Steiner noted the operation is a risky undertaking "and things could go wrong".

"We have done everything we believe we can to mitigate those risks. But at the end of the day, until that oil is taken off, we are operating in an extremely complex operating environment," he said.

The Houthis and the internationally recognised government dispute who owns the oil, which has complicated the task of getting it out.

The Houthis have been accused of obstructing the process and of using the situation as a political bargaining chip.

"In the end, it seemed more expedient in terms of time to get the oil out and then we can deal with the issue of selling the oil, which is still very desirable, down the road," Gressly said.