Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) will contribute $10 million to address threats arising from the oil tanker ‘Safer’, which is anchored off the Red Sea coast, just north of the Yemeni port city of Al Hudaydah.
The ‘Safer’ tanker contains more than one million barrels of oil, and has not been maintained since 2015. Any oil spill or leakage could threaten regional marine life, fisheries, and biodiversity.
Saudi Arabia is looking to avoid the economic, humanitarian, and environmental threats posed by further deterioration of the ‘Safer’, which could cause a major environmental and navigational disaster, and widespread damage to the Red Sea coast.
KSrelief is looking to avoid a situation that could impact fishing communities, international navigation, and the delivery of food, fuel, and lifesaving supplies to Yemen, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
An oil spill would further exacerbate the humanitarian situation in the region and could threaten all the neighbouring Red Sea countries, KSRelief said in a statement.
Threats of an oil spill from the Safer tanker
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly warned the international community that the world would face a significant environmental disaster if the oil in the tanker leaked into the Red Sea.
Marking the UN’s World Ocean Day on 8 June, 2022, concerned parties highlighted the need for urgent collective action to protect the world’s oceans, which are a major global food source as well as a key factor in facing the challenges resulting from climate change.
Saudi Arabia has called upon the UN to immediately take the necessary actions to prevent oil leakage from the tanker, and to either transfer the oil to a safe place or use it to benefit the Yemeni people.
The kingdom is following international developments in this regard within the framework of its broader focus upon the preservation of the most important global marine resources and ecosystems, state-run news agency, Wam, reported.
In order to maintain stability in Yemen and in support of the UN’s efforts to reach solutions to all threats to international peace and security, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by KSrelief, has held several meetings and discussions with the international community to stress the need to support the operational plan to address the ‘Safer’ tanker situation, and to expand upon support Saudi Arabia has previously provided for maintenance of the vessel.
The $10 million that Saudi Arabia is providing aims to further support the efforts of UN organisations to develop an effective plan to identify and address the potential threats posed by the ‘Safer’ tanker.
Saudi Arabia also calls on the international community to contribute urgently to support for this initiative in order to prevent a serious environmental disaster from occurring.
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