An abandoned oil storage tanker floating off the coast of Yemen has the potential to explode and cause one of the world’s worst environmental disasters, but a bitter conflict is preventing anyone from fixing the problem.
Key points:
- The FSO Safer was seized by Houthi rebels in 2015
- The tanker is holding more than a million barrels of crude oil
- If the ships explodes or leaks, the UN warns of an environmental disaster
Rusting in the extra-salty waters of the southern Red Sea, the FSO Safer is a giant ageing tanker holding more than a million barrels of oil.
But that is not the only danger this drifting ghost ship poses.
It is emitting flammable gases, which have been building up inside, creating an increasing explosive hazard.
Owned by Yemen’s state oil and gas corporation, SAFER, the ship was seized by rebel forces known as the Houthis in 2015, at the beginning of Yemen’s civil war.
Yemen is in the midst of a humanitarian catastrophe as the rebel group continues to fight the government for control of the country.
As conflict has raged for five years, the 45-year-old ship, converted to a Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) facility, has had almost no maintenance.
The oil in its 34 internal tanks is a particular type of light crude expected to mix free