UN vessel en route to Yemen to collect oil from decaying tanker

Operation aims to prevent oil spill from the rusting FSO Safer tanker

The decaying oil tanker FSO Safer off the Yemeni port of Ras Isa. AFP

A UN supertanker left China on Friday on a mission to collect more than a million barrels of crude stored on a decaying vessel off Yemen's west coast and prevent a devastating oil spill in the Red Sea.

The UN Development Programme purchased the crude carrier Nautica in March after Yemen's Houthi rebels, who control much of the western coastline, agreed to a plan last year to remove the oil stored aboard the FSO Safer.

“The departure of the Nautica, and its onward journey to the Red Sea, is a significant next step in the complex operation to take on the oil from the Safer,” UNDP chief Achim Steiner said in a statement.

It is not clear how long it will take the supertanker to reach Yemen, where a civil war that began in 2014 has prevented the FSO Safer from receiving proper maintenance.

Mr Steiner called for urgent contributions to fund the operation, which was $34 million short of its $129 million budget as of April 4.

The UN even launched a crowdfunding page with a target of raising $500,000.

“We are in a race against time and I urge leaders in government, CEOs of corporations and any individual in a position to contribute to step forward and support us in keeping this operation, that is fast reaching a critical stage, on track,” Mr Steiner said.

The statement cited “spiralling costs” for very large crude carriers like the Nautica, known as VLCCs, in a market affected by the war in Ukraine.

“We have the best available technical expertise and political support from all sides,” said David Gressly, the UN resident and humanitarian co-ordinator for Yemen, who has been a key figure in the talks on the operation.

“We just need the final piece of funding this month to ensure success” and prevent “a catastrophe”, he said.

The UN has been raising funds for the operation since May last year.

UN officials have been negotiating for years with the Houthis to get experts on board the FSO Safer to assess its condition.

The Iran-backed rebels control Red Sea ports including Ras Isa, just six kilometres from where the Safer is moored.

Experts have said a spill from tanker would cause an ecological disaster that could also affect shipping through the Bab Al Mandeb between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and through the Suez Canal.

Efforts increased to end war

The UN's oil recovery operation comes amid increased efforts to end the war between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government, which has been supported by a Saudi-backed coalition.

The real issue right now is the Houthis accepting the government's terms for pushing forward the peace process, Hamzah Al Kamaly, Yemen's Deputy Youth Minister, told The National.

A UN-brokered peace deal that halted the fighting for six months expired in October, though diplomacy has continued and full-scale conflict has not resumed.

The truce collapsed after the rebels did not agree to renew.

“The Saudis have been shuttling between the two sides about getting them to agree to renew the truce and forming a negotiations delegation,” Mr Al Kamaly said.

The talks have also focused on unifying the central bank and reopening roads across the country, and will continue for a while, he said.

The head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al Alimi, met Saudi Arabia's Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman on Thursday.

The PLC's eight-member team gathered in Riyadh this week to discuss the continuing political efforts.