The United Nations: a preliminary agreement to unload the cargo of the "Safer" oil tanker

The Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Martin Griffiths, announced in a meeting of the Security Council that a preliminary agreement had been reached with the parties in Yemen, to unload the cargo of the "Safer" oil tanker on another ship.

"I am pleased to announce that progress has been made in efforts to resolve the oil tanker issue, Safer, including an agreement in principle on a proposal submitted by the United Nations to transfer the oil cargo to another vessel," Griffiths said.

Griffiths did not reveal any details about this process or the exact date for its implementation.

Ten days ago, the United Nations had referred to "positive discussions" with the Yemeni government authorities and the Houthis in order to find an urgent solution to this tanker, which has been abandoned for years, and to avoid the leakage of its cargo into the water, which would cause a major environmental disaster.

The Safer, which was made 45 years ago and is used as a floating storage platform, is loaded with 1.1 million barrels of crude oil and is valued at about $40 million.

The ship has not undergone any maintenance since 2015, which led to the erosion of its hull and its deteriorating condition, while it is anchored off the port of Hodeidah, six kilometers from the Yemeni coast.

The oil spill from the tanker would cause great damage to the ecosystems of the Red Sea and cause the closure of the Hodeidah port for several months, thus exposing more than 8.4 million people to high levels of pollution, according to independent studies.

The Houthis are demanding that the UN teams inspect and maintain the tanker immediately, but the UN said that its teams plan to conduct visits to assess the extent of the damage before starting the actual maintenance process.

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