Deputy General Secretary of the organization Mark Lowcock warned about possible spill of 1.1 million barrels of oil.
The UN has warned of a possible spill of 1.1 million barrels of oil from a tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. This was stated on Wednesday by UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Loucock, speaking by video link at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
He said that at the end of May, sea water began to flow into the engine compartment of the oil tanker FSO Safer.
“It is difficult to know exactly what caused the leak, as the tanker has not been accessed by international experts in all six years of conflict in Yemen, – ” he said. According to the deputy general secretary, sinking a tanker “would almost inevitably lead to a serious oil spill.
“FSO Safer has 1.1 million barrels of oil on it. This is four times more than the tanker Exxon Valdez crashed in the ocean “, – said Loucock.
“Experts believe that the only way to prevent a catastrophe is to completely pump oil from a 44-year-old ship”, – he said. At the same time, according to him, the UN has repeatedly encountered obstacles from the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah when trying to send an expert mission to the tanker.
“Last week, we received encouraging news. Ansar Allah’s representatives have confirmed in writing that they are ready to allow the UN mission access to FSO Safer”, – the Deputy Secretary General said. – “I welcome this announcement. At the same time, he reminded that similar written permissions had been previously received, however, in practice, the UN mission was not allowed to access the ship. “But before it’s too late, we are ready to help. Specialists of the UN are ready to leave within three weeks in case of obtaining all necessary permits”, – assured Lowcock.
He warned that if the tragedy cannot be prevented, an oil spill will become “not only the worst environmental but also a humanitarian disaster. “If a spill occurs in the next two months, experts estimate that 1.6 million Yemenis could be directly affected. The lives of almost all coastal fishing settlements will be destroyed,” said the UN representative.
Fighting between government forces and Houthi has continued in Yemen since August 2014. It has entered its most active phase with the invasion of a coalition led by Saudi Arabia in March 2015.