The FSO Safer oil platform is bobbing about nine kilometers off the coast of Yemen. The 47-year-old tanker is the size of three football fields and carries over a million barrels of oil. Yemen would be responsible for maintenance and repairs. But since 2014, a civil war has been raging in the country between the Houthi rebels, who are loyal to Iran, and the internationally recognized Yemeni government, which is supported by the United States and Saudi Arabia, among others. The tanker has therefore not seen a fresh screw for years. In any case, it has long since become obsolete: in industry, a commercial service life for oil tankers is around 25 years.
Now the vehicle has become rusty, water is said to have penetrated the engine rooms. The United Nations fear the ship will break up or explode. The result would be a historic oil spill. The UN has therefore collected money for a rescue operation that has now started.
What happens to the tanker now? What would be the consequences of an oil spill for the region and how much would the rescue operation cost? The most important questions and their answers:
In 1976 the “Safer” was built as a supertanker and has been used as a floating oil container since 1986. Ever since the civil war raged in Yemen, the tanker has been out of service and rotting away on the Red Sea. Seawater is said to have entered the engine room and damaged the pipes. Pipelines and ship walls rust, highly explosive gases cannot be extracted.
The tanker is said to have stored four times as much oil as the “Exxon Valdez”, which wrecked in 1989 and thus triggered what is probably the worst oil spill to date. The United Nations fear that the catastrophe now looming in the Red Sea could be even greater. The ship is considered irreparable and should therefore be pumped out and then removed.
For two years, the UN raised funds from member states and private and public companies. The organization used the money to buy a ship on which the oil from the “Safer” is to be temporarily stored. The rescue operation began on July 25 and was approved by the Houthi rebels on July 10. According to the head of the UN Development Program (UNDP), Achim Steiner, it is a difficult mission. It can take two to three weeks for the oil to be completely pumped out of the tanker. After that, the “Safer” still has to be cleaned, towed away and disposed of.
An oil spill could hit the countries bordering the Red Sea hard. Shipping in the Suez Canal, one of the busiest waterways in the world, would also be affected. The tourists, on whom the region partly lives, could also stay away.
An oil spill would disrupt further food supplies and humanitarian aid to Yemen through the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef. How long is unclear. In addition, millions of livelihoods are at stake: Many people on the Red Sea live from fishing. The UN estimates that 200,000 fisheries could be wiped out in Yemen alone. Residents would also be exposed to life-threatening toxins. In addition, desalination plants would have to be shut down – with dramatic consequences for the water supply.
But the environment is also at risk. Even a leak in the “Safer” could pollute the air with toxic gases, the UN writes. Experts from the organization reckon that the fish stocks would only recover in the event of an oil spill in 25 years. An oil slick could not only reach the Yemeni coast, but also reach Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. According to the UN, cleaning up the Red Sea would cost $20 billion.
The bailout was originally supposed to cost $83 million. Today it is 143 million (around 128 million euros). Germany contributed twelve million dollars, making it one of the most generous donor countries. The Yemeni government, which owns the ship and would have been responsible for the maintenance, contributed $5 million, according to the UN.
The oil and energy industries were reluctant to participate, said UNDP boss Steiner. “Where are the oil and gas companies in the world that can contribute more here?” he asked in an interview with the German Press Agency.
The crowdfunding campaign raised a total of 121 million dollars – not enough to completely prevent the catastrophe.
To be able to tow the ship and dispose of the garbage, the United Nations still needs 22 million dollars. Because just because the oil has been pumped out of the tanker does not mean that the danger has been averted. The oil residues it contains continue to endanger the marine ecosystem in the Red Sea. If the tanker explodes or breaks apart from the rust, the remains could be released.
The oil is currently being pumped out by specialists from the Dutch salvage company Smit. The company had already helped in 2021 when a cargo ship blocked the Suez Canal. “We work in a war zone,” says Steiner. The area around the tanker and near the Yemeni coast is partially mined. Within a radius of 90 minutes of flight time there are aircraft with chemicals that can carry out the first protective measures in an emergency.
The political situation in Yemen is a challenge. Because the civil war parties can stop the rescue operation at any time. The coast where the tanker is located is controlled by the rebels. However, the oil on board the tanker belongs to the state oil company – to which both parties to the conflict lay claim.
“Because of the conflict and lack of trust, there have been long delays in negotiations to get Yemeni parties’ approval and in raising the necessary funds,” said Musaed Aklan, senior researcher in environment and water at the Sana’a Center For Strategic Studies of the New York Times. “It is evident that FSO Safer is used as a tool of war.”
This is still being discussed. According to the UN, the oil will be sold and the proceeds will benefit the people of Yemen.
The rescue operation was the result of long negotiations with the Yemeni conflict parties. In March 2022, both agreed on the rescue operation, mediated by the United Nations. The approval followed three months after peace talks between Saudi Arabia, which supports the internationally recognized government, and Iran, which sides with the rebels. Yemen is considered the scene of a proxy war between the two states. Despite a rapprochement and an exchange of prisoners, there was no breakthrough. A lasting peace in Yemen is still not in sight. Even the rusty tanker doesn’t change that.
Rather, it fuels the conflict between the civil war parties. Because the official government blames the rebels for the delayed rescue. Actually, the campaign should have started two years ago. Because the Houthis did not want to guarantee the safety of the rescue team, the operation was postponed indefinitely, the UN said at the time. The Houthis, in turn, blame their opponents for the condition of the tanker.
The Federal Foreign Office rates the fact that the tanker can now be salvaged as positive. “The fact that the parties to the conflict in Yemen are supporting the rescue operation (…) is good news that now needs to be translated into other areas of the conflict, such as a permanent ceasefire in Yemen”; it says on the website of the Federal Foreign Office.
US politicians and international researchers see this as a de-escalation and diplomatic advance in the civil war. Some are counting on an end to the conflict. “The example of Safer shows how important dialogue is and how important it is to constantly travel to Sanaa to see results,” International Crisis Group Yemen researcher Veena Ali-Khan told the New York Times. .
Sources: United Nations, State Department, Associated Press, Al Monitor, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, New York Times, with material from DPA
