Posted on 27 April 2023
The UN have announced that they will be deploying a Boskalis subsidiary SMIT Salvage vessel to transfer 1 million barrels of oil off the Safer vessel decaying in the Red Sea. The Safer has been sitting in its present location since 1988 and has the potential to explode at anytime, which would have catastrophic consequences on the region and globally.
Liesje Schreinemacher, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, said ‘‘An enormous oil disaster is looming, which could have serious humanitarian, environmental and economic implications. But we now have a chance to prevent that disaster.”
The UN are calling for member states and private entities to help fill the funding gap required for this, and future, operations. David Gressly, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, urges for international support on the initiative, saying “we urgently need to close the $29 million funding gap for the emergency operation and raise the additional funds needed to ensure safe long-term storage of the oil.”