In the midst of the war in Yemen, there is an ecological time bomb ticking just off the coast: a derelict oil tanker that could cause a disastrous oil spill unless immediate action is taken to avert the catastrophe. Experts warn that the scale of this potential spill would eclipse that of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which dumped around 11 million gallons of oil near Alaska in 1989—roughly one-fourth the oil that the FSO Safer currently holds. “If Safer leaks, the environmental disaster will be four times greater than the Exxon Valdez spill that happened in 1989,” Nakat said. Then the FSO Safer would be towed away and sold for salvage. Much of that assistance enters through nearby ports—a humanitarian lifeline that could potentially close in the event of an oil spill, the U.N. said.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 11, 2022 10:17 UTC