Barrel by barrel: UN begins removing oil from decaying tanker in the Red Sea

After almost two years of political ground-work, fundraising and technical preparations, the UN has begun a complex operation to transfer crude oil from a decaying supertanker that has been stranded off the coast of Yemen since 2015.

Described by the UN Secretary-General as a ‘the world’s largest ticking time-bomb’, this 19-day, UNDP-led operation, will pump more than one million barrels out of the rusting vessel, the FSO Safer, to a nearby replacement vessel, and in doing so avert a massive oil spill into the Red Sea. 

Watch the video below from the Resident Coordinator David Gressly, to hear how the UN’s efforts to prevent an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe are progressing and why today ‘is a day that will be celebrated across the whole of Yemen.’ 

To learn more about the work of the UN in Yemen visit yemen.un.org