FSO Safer: A Shipwreck in Slow Motion - The humanitarian, economic and environmental impacts of an oil disaster in the making in the Red Sea [EN/AR] - Yemen

FSO Safer tanker could trigger major oil disaster, study shows

Beirut, Lebanon – Without a swift resolution, an explosion or leak from the rusting oil tanker FSO Safer off the coast of Yemen could trigger one of the biggest oil spill disasters in history. According to a new study produced by the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, the impacts could be much wider, more severe and longer lasting than thought from previously available information. If all the oil is spilled it would be four times bigger than the Exxon Valdez, causing widespread severe environmental damage and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Yemen and affecting neighbouring countries.

The FSO Safer is a rusting tanker with over 1.1 million barrels (over 140,000 tonnes) of Marib light crude oil on board anchored in the Red Sea just 6 km (4 miles) off the coast of Yemen, where one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters is unfolding. The vessel is at risk of exploding or spilling its oil cargo. Negotiations have so far failed to resolve how to secure the cargo and ship, which has been left without maintenance for the past seven years. Vital fire fighting and prevention equipment and the ship’s generators are not working.

Ahmed El Droubi, Campaigns Manager at Greenpeace MENA, said: “The abandoned tanker, with its toxic cargo of crude oil, poses a grave threat to the communities and environment of the Red Sea. The Safer can only be made safe by removing the oil from the ship into another vessel or vessels. Despite the difficulties, financial and political, we urge the United Nations and all the parties and governments in the region and elsewhere to prioritise this effort. Action to prevent a major disaster, or at least mitigate its impact, can no longer wait.”

In the event of an oil spill, the impacts for the people and the environment in the wider region would be devastating:

Paul Horsman, Project Lead Safer Response Team at Greenpeace International, said: “We accept that there are big challenges in removing the oil securely from the Safer, but the barriers to undertaking this are not technical but political. The technology and expertise to transfer the oil to other tankers exist, but despite months of negotiations we are still at a stalemate and the Safer remains in its ever-deteriorating state. Governments and the oil industry have a moral obligation to take ambitious action and stop putting people and pristine ecosystems like the Red Sea at risk for the sake of continued dependence on climate-wrecking fossil fuels.”

Countries such as Norway, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany and those in the region such as Bahrain have ready stockpiles of oil spill response hardware, and could send equipment to the region to be on stand-by, under United Nations (UN) coordination. Given the political context and the ongoing conflict in Yemen, action by the UN and the international community is critical to prevent an environmental and humanitarian disaster and ensure the issue is a priority in negotiations.

Greenpeace MENA and Greenpeace International are currently working with organisations in Yemen and the region to identify and support a solution to remove the oil while preparing to respond in case of a major oil spill.

ENDS

Notes:

The study “FSO Safer: a shipwreck in slow motion. The humanitarian, economic and environmental impacts of an oil disaster in the making in the Red Sea”, Greenpeace Research laboratories technical report (Review) 01-2022, is available in Arabic and in English.

[1] Huynh, B.Q. et al. Public health impacts of an imminent Red Sea oil spill. Nat. Sustain. (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00774-8

[2] Fine, M. et al. Coral reefs of the Red Sea — Challenges and potential solutions. Regional Studies in Marine Science 25, 100498 (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.rsma.2018.100498

[3] State of the Marine Environment, Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA), 2006.

[4] Kleinhaus, K. et al. A closing window of opportunity to save a unique marine ecosystem. Front. Mar. Sci. 7, 615733 (2020).

Contacts:

Borhene Eddine Fakhfakh, Greenpeace MENA communication officer: borhene.fakhfakh@greenpeace.org, +216 53 623 007

Greenpeace International Press Desk: pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)

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