United Nations buys vessel to prevent oil spill from decaying ship in Yemen

MADRID, 10 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced Thursday the purchase of a vessel to extract more than one million barrels of crude from a decomposing tanker in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen.

According to the UN, the vessel is expected to arrive in the affected area at the beginning of May to begin the operation safely, in order to avoid a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe.

"We must accept that this is a very challenging and complex operation," said Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, who explained that the program is working with other UN agencies and international consultancies specialized in maritime law to ensure the implementation of " the best experience possible to successfully complete this operation.

The ship, which has not received maintenance since 2015 due to the open conflict in Yemen, has deteriorated to the point of telling the world that there is an imminent risk that it could explode or rupture, which would have disastrous effects in the region, UNDP says.

Thus, this organization has denounced that a major spill would devastate the fishing communities in the area, in such a way that the consequences would affect 200,000 livelihoods that would be destroyed, entire communities that would be exposed to potentially deadly toxins, and the polluted air would affect millions. of people.

Among the effects, I would also highlight the closure of several ports that are essential to supply food and fuel to a population --the Yemeni-- in which 17 million people need food assistance; as well as the environmental impact.

However, the cost of the cleanup is estimated at 20 billion dollars (about 19 billion euros), despite the fact that interruptions in maritime transport can increase expenses. Although the project has received "significant international support", the UN has made a new appeal to the international community to encourage them to participate in the collection.