Attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as American and British responses, forced the United Nations to halt the perilous rescue of the FSO Safera dilapidated tanker abandoned for years off the coast of Hodeida, Yemen, which threatened to cause a gigantic oil spill.
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For years, the 48-year-old FSO Safer was docked and abandoned with 1.14 million barrels of oil on board off the coast of Hodeidah, Yemen, due to the rebel war since 2014. Houthis and the Yemeni central power. Due to lack of maintenance, the ship has fallen into disrepair and is in danger of exploding. Such an oil spill could cause an environmental disaster in the Red Sea, with possible repercussions throughout the region.
So in August 2023, the United Nations embarked on a high-risk operationwhich first began with the extraction of the million barrels retained in the bowels of the old tanker to transfer them to a replacement vesselbaptized MT-Yemen.
THE rescue work was to end with cleaning the tanks of oil residue, towing and demolition of the FSO Safer. Because even freed of its cargo, the ship, which risks breaking up, constitutes “ a threat to the environment » due to oil residue, according to the UN.
Interruption of rescue
It is this entire second part of the rescue which was delayed due to financial problems, and which is now stopped dead in its tracks by the increase in Houthi attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The situation posed “ unexpected operational and financial challenges “, preventing the completion of the operation, a spokesperson for the UN Development Program (UNDP) told AFP. “ The UN had no choice but to discontinue the project at this stage and informed the authorities “, he added. “ We continue to monitor developments very closely. »
Except that the environmental danger has not been lifted. THE FSO Safer, still polluted, is still at sea and could split, as well as the replacement ship, also blocked off the coast of Hodeida. An oil spill in the Red Sea would affect the marine ecosystem, fishing villages and vital ports of Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula.
Read alsoAbandoned FSO Safer tanker: “A time bomb” off the coast of Yemen, warns the UN
THE FSO Safer could be hit by a missile
Since mid-November, the Houthi rebels fire missiles and drones off the coast of Yemen against ships they consider linked to Israel, as a sign of “ solidarity » with the Palestinians in Gaza. These attacks, which disrupted traffic in this maritime area essential for world trade, prompted the United States to bomb rebel positions in Yemen in return.
According to Kuwaiti analyst Bader Al Saif, the Houthis will not hesitate to “ use every card at their disposal to tarnish the image » of the United States and its allies. A delay in the FSO Safer project serves, for example, their “ anti-American propaganda “, he reported to AFP.
But this also means that there are “ big risks ” that the FSO Safer where the MT-Yemenbe hit by a missile, estimated Idriss al-Shami, the general director of the national oil and gas company SEPOC in Sanaa which acts under the authority of the Houthis.
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(And with AFP)