UN official: $20 million to save “Safer” will prevent a disaster costing 20 billion

English - Tuesday 14 June 2022 الساعة 07:06 pm
Aden, NewsYemen:

 The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, David Grisley, called on the countries bordering the Red Sea and regional countries, to urgently contribute to averting the oil spill disaster from the Safer Floating Reservoir off the Hodeidah Governorate, in the west of the country.

 In an interview with the "Yemen in International Media" program organized by the Sana'a Center for Studies, the UN official warned of escalating risks in the coming months of October and November, which are witnessing strong winds that may cause the ship to split.

He said that providing $20 million to finance the first phase of the reservoir rescue plan would prevent an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe, as the costs of organizing beaches in the event of an oil spill could cost $20 billion, while Yemeni fishermen would lose 200,000 jobs.

As a result, thousands of Yemenis will join the cycle of starvation in light of the loss of their source of livelihood.

 Grisley said that the marine environment of the Red Sea coasts will be greatly affected, and that the damage will extend to all countries on the Red Sea, including the countries of the Horn of Africa.

However, the UN official stressed the need to provide at least $80 million to implement the first emergency phase, explaining that the amount available so far does not guarantee the continuation of the plan, which, if it fails, may cause a loss of confidence and impose more costs later.

solution plan

 He said that the United Nations has a comprehensive plan to save the situation, which will be implemented in two phases, and needs 144 million dollars, but 33 million dollars from the pledges it obtained during a conference organized by the Dutch government last May, is not enough, according to Gressly.

He added that the situation became possible to avoid the leakage of crude oil from the ship, which was built in 1976, after the political and security obstacles had vanished, and the United Nations had obtained support from the de facto authorities in Sana'a and the Yemeni government in Aden, for the operational plan.

According to the UN official, the first stage is the transfer of more than 1.1 million barrels of oil from the current dilapidated ship to a new ship, while the second stage is the replacement of the current capacity of the ship.

plan financing

 The UN coordinator renewed his call for the rich countries to finance the operational plan, noting that the countries that will be affected are poor countries and do not have the necessary resources.

Grisley said that the plan to save the situation requires four months, including four weeks, to transfer oil to the new ship, in a process implemented by an international rescue company.

He added that the new ship will replace the current ship, and that what will happen only is transporting the oil to a safe place.

On the issue of selling oil, Grisley said that the volume of oil inside the ship would be of high value given the current prices, but the United Nations avoided talking about details related to the ownership of the oil or its sale, whether to provide funding or otherwise.

In the same context, the UN coordinator said that the sea mines planted around the Safer reservoir are not a difficult threat to deal with, as the UN has experts working in the demining program it supports in Yemen.