Diplomat: The Houthis maintain a "safer" as a time bomb against the international community
English - Saturday 27 June 2020 الساعة 06:51 pm
Al-Arabiya.net, Newsyemen:
On Friday, the British Ambassador to Yemen, Michael Aaron, demanded that the Houthi militia allow the United Nations to examine the Safer tanker anchored at the Ras Essa port north of Hodeidah.
The British ambassador warned that a study showed that any oil spill from the tanker "Safer" would lead to a double disaster in the region, adding that the results of the study were shared with the Security Council and our partners in Yemen; it showed that the level of impact of the spill during the period between July and September will cause the death of all fish in the area, and directly affect 1.6 million of the population in the area and its livelihood.
According to the study, according to the ambassador: During this period, 8 million Yemenis will be directly exposed to environmental pollution from the spill, and from 50 to 70 percent of Yemeni agricultural land will be covered by the black cloud, and it has shown that the impact of the spill will continue for more than 30 years.
He also warned the Houthis of the consequences of not allowing the United Nations to examine the Safer oil tank in Hodeidah.
And the abandoned ship "Safer", which is docking off the port of Ras Issa in Al Hodeidah governorate in western Yemen, is a time bomb due to the interruption of its maintenance five years ago, amid reports that it might explode and cause the largest environmental disaster in the world.
The United Nations has confirmed, for the second time, that the Houthi militia - Iran's arm in Yemen - refuses to allow the access of its experts to assess the status of the reservoir.
The Associated Press obtained new documents and pictures that showed that sea water entered the tanker engine room that had not been maintained for more than five years, causing damage to the pipes and an increased risk of drowning.
It also revealed that the rust covered parts of the tanker, and resulted in an inert gas leakage that prevents tanks from collecting flammable gases.
While international experts revealed that the maintenance of the ship is no longer possible because the damage cannot be repaired.
This catastrophic deterioration came after years and constant demands by the United Nations for the Houthis, to allow inspectors to assess the damage on board the ship known as the FSO Safer and search for ways to secure the tanker by unloading the oil, and pulling the ship to safety.
As for the reasons that prevent the militias, a Western diplomat said: They treat the ship as a "deterrent, as possessing a nuclear weapon."
He said: "They say it outright to the United Nations, we would like that ship to be a weapon against the international community if we come under attack."
The diplomat said that the Houthis were initially demanding millions of dollars in exchange for unloading the oil stored in the tanker, but the United Nations is trying, according to the diplomat, to reach an arrangement so that these funds are used to pay the wages of workers and employees in the Yemeni Red Sea ports.
Despite the efforts of the United Nations, it has been constantly criticized for failing to understand the scale of the crisis.
