UNDP Purchases Vessel to Remove Oil from Stricken Yemen Tanker

In a step intended to prevent a catastrophic oil spill in the Red Sea, the UN has secured a deal to purchase a vessel that will remove more than a million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker that has threatened the region for years.

The decaying supertanker has been cited as a “time bomb” because it could leak, break apart or explode, unleashing ecological and humanitarian devastation, with far-reaching impacts, according to UN.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is involved in implementing the high-risk project to resolve the threat, as part of a $144 million UN-coordinated operation for the FSO Safer.

In response to this environmental crisis, UNDP has inked an agreement with international shipping company Euronav to secure a replacement vessel to remove the oil onboard the tanker.

UNDP's chief Achim Steiner said: "The purchase of this suitable vessel by UNDP marks the beginning of the operational phase of the UN-coordinated plan to safely remove the oil from the Safer and avoid the risk of an environmental and humanitarian disaster on a massive scale. We must accept that this is a very challenging and complex operation.