Sanna 27 Aug : Sanna, Aug 27 : UN is still working to raise funds to stop the massive oil spill that has occurred from the abandoned Safer oil tanker in the Red Sea off Yemen, and the plan requires approximately $16 million an official from the government said here. “The UN is getting close to receiving enough money to meet the $80 million mark to save oil from the disintegrating Safer tanker that is falling from the bottom,” the official told Xinhua news agency.
“Yemen’s private sector, specifically the international HSA Group, announced that it will contribute $1.2 million to help fund the UN’s salvage mission,” he added.
The official reiterated that the government’s complete support to the UN efforts to pump over 1 million barrels of oil from the 45-year-old Safer tanker, and preventing the environmental disaster in the Red Sea.
In June in June, the UN launched a crowdfunding campaign to prevent oil leaks from the deteriorating FSO Safer that is moored in the Red Sea north of the port city of Hodeidah.
The supertanker that is in disrepair is described as an “floating time bomb” which could cause an explosion or spill of oil four times as devastating as that of the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident in the Red Sea.
The Safer has been located in the Red Sea since 1988.
The Houthis have been blocking UN efforts to maintain and inspect the vessel following the conflict between the Houthis and the Yemeni government started in 2014.
