![A view of decaying FSO Safer oil tanker anchored 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the port of Hudaydah, Yemen on July 15, 2023 [Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/AA-20230717-31702163-31702152-DECAYING_FSO_SAFER_OIL_TANKER_IN_YEMEN.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
The UN has started removing oil from a decaying tanker, the FSO Safer, off the coast of Yemen today, after years of dispute between the country's warring factions on how to tackle the issue and prevent a major oil spill in the Red Sea.
In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: "The United Nations has begun an operation to defuse what might be the world's largest ticking time bomb."
"A complex maritime salvage effort is now underway in the Red Sea off the coast of war-torn Yemen to transfer one million barrels of oil from the decaying FSO Safer to a replacement vessel."
The operation commenced at 10:45am local time (0745 GMT), the statement said.
At 4:30am this morning engines were started to begin final manoeuvre of moving replacement tanker MOST YEMEN alongside FSO #Safer.
? @beleefboskalis & our @UNDP & @UN teams for a smooth operation. Getting READY to pump the oil & #StopReadSeaSpilll pic.twitter.com/ne6sRTkd86
— Achim Steiner (@ASteiner) July 22, 2023
It is believed that there are more than 1.1 million barrels of oil stored on the tanker. In order to prevent a potential environmental catastrophe, which will exacerbate the already dire humanitarian crisis, the Marib light crude will be transferred to another vessel, which the UN has purchased as a replacement storage tanker.
According to AFP, the $143 million operation is expected to take around three weeks to avert an environmental disaster, which the UN estimates could cost $20 billion to clean up.
Maintenance operations on the Safer were suspended in 2015 due to the war on Yemen and obstructions caused by the blockade, with both sides – the Houthi-led government in Sanaa and the Saudi-led coalition – blaming the other for putting the country at risk.
READ: UN to start operation to offload decaying oil tanker off Yemen
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