Costs mount as UN’s FSO Safer operation remains on hold in Yemen
The successful removal of 1.1m barrels of oil from the decaying wreck of the 48-year-old tanker FSO Safer, caught in the middle of Yemen’s civil war, prevented the worst-case scenario: A catastrophic spill four times greater than the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. But the completion of the operations are now once again on hold thanks to the Red Sea security risk, mounting costs, a funding gap and new terrorist designations for the Houthis
Mounting insurance and salvage costs have left a funding shortfall for the UN agencies, which are unable to complete the operation until some semblance of security can be restored in the Red Sea