Environmental Protection Authority warns of the consequences of preventing maintenance of the oil ship Safer

Environmental Protection Authority warned of an environmental disaster that would be the worst in the region as a result of the continued intransigence of the countries of aggression to prevent the maintenance of the floating oil storage and offloading vessel that is moored in the Red Sea north of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, FSO Safer.

“Preventing the maintenance of the Safer threatens the occurrence of the largest oil spill in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It may extend to the Mediterranean, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean,” the authority said in a statement on Saturday.

The statement pointed out that the vessel is moored at a distance of 4.8 miles from Ras Issa Beach as a floating tank to load and ship ships with crude oil for export purposes. It is the third-largest floating port in the world to store oil and its storage capacity is approximately three million barrels.

It pointed out that the authority had already sounded the alarm over the past years, calling on the international community and international organizations to play their role and demanding that the necessary maintenance be permitted to avoid the worst environmental disaster in the area.

The statement called for providing the tanker with fuel oil to run the electric generators on which balance-keeping pumps, filtering equipment, and ventilate the tanks depend on to prevent the build-up of flammable gases, as well as generators, rely on tanker locking devices to discourage iron oxidation (rust).

“The countries of aggression continue to destroy the marine environment and violate international laws and treaties related to the protection of the seas, using the vessel as a pressure card in light of the complete silence of the international community,” the authority said.

The statement indicated that the occurrence of any oil leakage from Safer or its explosion will cause a major environmental and economic catastrophe on the marine environment and will eliminate marine life, fish, and coral for many years, and will also affect the movement of maritime navigation in the affected area.

The Environmental Protection Authority called on international and environmental organizations, United Nations organizations and the Security Council, to carry out their duty to allow the supply of fuel to the tanker and to carry out the necessary maintenance for it to prevent a possible environmental disaster in the region.

The coalition of aggression is refusing the entry of the technical team entrusted with maintenance work, according to the United Nations, to carry out the maintenance of the tanker, Safer, which has been floating near the port city of Hodeidah since 1989. It is at risk of exploding and causing a massive environmental disaster.

Safer, once Yemen’s main oil export facility, is a floating storage and offloading vessel moored about 50 kilometers north-west of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, the entry point for most of the country’s humanitarian aid and imports. It has had no maintenance for nearly five years, allowing explosive gases to build up in its storage tanks.

Safer found itself with its large crew in a state of siege within the massive siege imposed on Yemen, which caused the suspension of its activity and then prevented the supply of the necessary fuel for its operation.