UN averts disaster; oil emptied from Yemen 'time bomb' tanker
ADEN (Yemen), August 12, 2023
The United Nations has announced the successful completion of the ship-to-ship transfer of more than 1 million barrels of oil by a team from SMIT, a unit of Dutch dredging and heavylift company Boskalis, from the decaying FSO Safer tanker off Yemen, thus averting 'a monumental environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.'
The FSO Safer was built as a supertanker in 1976 and converted a decade later into what is in effect a floating oil container. It was abandoned off the Red Sea port of Hudaydah in Yemen in 2015 after war broke out.
Prior to the conflict, it was used to store and export oil from fields around Ma’rib, but the fighting brought production, as well as maintenance of the vessel, to a halt.
With more than one million barrels of oil on board, it was feared the deteriorating FSO Safer, which industry experts dubbed it a 'floating time bomb.' could explode or break apart, causing a major spill.
The safe removal of more than a million barrels of oil from the decaying FSO Safer tanker off Yemen, helped avert a worst case scenario oil spill that would have devastated coastal communities and created a crisis in vital Red Sea shipping lanes.
Leading up to the transfer of the oil, the salvage team executed several preparatory activities. After the Boskalis multipurpose support vessel Ndeavor arrived at the site of the FSO Safer in late May, the salvage team conducted a thorough inspection of the vessel and its cargo.
In addition, various measures were taken to ensure a safe working environment. Preparations were then made to transfer the oil to the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) purchased by the UN, said the statement from Boskalis.
The VLCC was moored alongside the FSO Safer on July 23 with the support from two Smit Lamnalco tugs, and oil screens were installed on the bow and stern between the two tankers as a precautionary measure.
Following this mooring operation, oil transfer pipes were connected between the FSO Safer and the VLCC on July 25 and hydraulic pumps were installed to transfer the oil to the VLCC.
The UN led a $120 million fundraising effort to secure the decaying ship and buy another tanker to take the recovered oil. It took 18 days to complete the transfer in a stretch of water where naval mines were known to be located.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had been among the first countries to extend financial grants through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) as part of its efforts with the international community in solving the crisis.
On completion of the safe transfer of oil, the Saudi ministry lauded the efforts of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), that had been implementing the operation, as well as other donor countries who raised funds.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, who has led UN system-wide efforts on the Safer since September 2021, said today marks a great milestone.
"A remarkable global coalition came together under the UN umbrella to prevent the worst-case scenario of a catastrophic oil spill in the Red Sea," said Gressly.
"We need to finish the work the UN started. The installation of a CALM buoy to which the replacement vessel will be safely tethered is the next crucial step," he added.
The SMIT team has been on-site since late May preparing the Safer for the oil transfer operation, which officially kicked off on July 25. The preparations included inspections, safety measures, and the installation of oil screens and transfer pipes.
The transfer was supported by two Smit Lamnalco tugs and hydraulic pumps were installed to facilitate the transfer. Oil was transferred to the replacement vessel Yemen, formerly the Nautica, which the UN secured from Euronav earlier this year.
The UN had warned that a major spill would devastate fishing communities on Yemen’s Red Sea coast and cost estimated at $20 billion to cleanup.
Disruptions to shipping through the Bab al-Mandab strait to the Suez Canal could cost billions more in global trade losses every day.
"I welcome the news that the transfer of oil from the FSO Safer has been safely concluded today," remarked UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "The UN-led operation has prevented what could have been an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe on a colossal scale," he added.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the international community had "defused a floating time bomb and prevented a potentially enormous environmental and health disaster".
Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski said: "With our salvage activities, we have once again averted a potential environmental disaster of unprecedented proportions."
"Thanks in part to the efforts of the Dutch Ministry of Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and over two years of preparations by Boskalis, we were able to successfully execute this complex operation on behalf of the UN," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
