Minister for the Middle East and Asia has announced additional UK
funding to prevent a major oil spill off the coast of Yemen.
Efforts to prevent a major oil spill in the Red Sea have been
boosted by a further £2 million announced by the Minister for the
Middle East today.
The FSO Safer tanker is moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast and
contains more than a million barrels of oil. The tanker is
beyond repair, and it is feared that it could soon break apart or
explode, destroying the environment around it and potentially
exposing communities in Yemen to life-threatening toxins.
The UN has been coordinating international efforts to prevent a
disastrous oil spill from the tanker. The £2 million announced by
the UK for the UN appealtoday is in
addition to £4 million pledged in May, making the UK one of the
leading donors.
At a meeting with counterparts from Oman, Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates and the US today, Minister Milling called on
the international community to step up its support.
Minister for the Middle East and Asia said:
A major oil spill from the Safer oil tanker would create an
ecological disaster in the Red Sea and exacerbate the dire
humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
The UK is stepping up our support to resolve this crisis. The UN
are ready to implement an emergency operation but the
international community must increase funding to allow them to
get started.
In May, the UK pledged £4 million pounds to the appeal as part of
a UN conference to launch the emergency plan. Of the $80 million
requested by the UN for Phase 1 of the operation, $60 million has
been pledged so far.
The UN’s plan involves a 4-month emergency salvage operation
during which a ship-to-ship transfer will be conducted to remove
the oil from the Safer onto a UN-leased vessel. The tanker will
then be cleaned and eventually a replacement tanker will be
installed.
At almost 400 metres long, it is among the largest tankers in the
world and holds roughly 4 times the crude oil that was spilled
during the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989.
