LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine): If the FSO Safer ship, which is currently under the custody of the Houthi militia backed by Iran off the Yemeni coast, is not drained of its oil, environmental activist group Greenpeace has cautioned of “catastrophic” humanitarian and environmental consequences.
Greenpeace stated at a news conference attended by Arab News on Thursday that an explosion or oil spill from the tanker might block the Suez Canal, costing the world about $10 billion per day.
In 2017, the ship was left in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. It stores 140,000 tonnes of oil, or 1.1 million barrels, according to Greenpeace, which may seep into the sea “at any moment” or spread because of an explosion on board.
The ship’s firefighting equipment is also broken, which means that if the crude ignites, a fire on board could release massive amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere.
Unless action was taken to make the tanker safe, there was a serious danger of a major oil spill, or worse, an explosion, said Paul Horsman, who directs Greenpeace International’s Safer Response Team.
In any case, the consequences would be “serious and long-lasting.” In the worst-case scenario, the oil might end up in neighbouring nations such as Eritrea,Djibouti and Saudi Arabia,” he said.
It might potentially interrupt Suez Canal commercial lines, and it could have an influence on future tourism. The Suez Canal can’t operate because ships can’t get out of the Red Sea, it is known to all what transpired when the Ever Given was stranded there – trade through the Suez Canal was predicted to lose $9 billion a day during that time, he added.
Despite repeated UN requests, the Houthis have blocked international access to secure the FSO Safer.
A spill would have a terrible humanitarian effect on the lives of Yemenis, according to a research released by Greenpeace on Thursday on the tanker’s dangers. Perhaps most importantly, access to safe drinking water would be severely limited.
The desalination plants on the coast of Yemen at Salif, Aden and Hudaydah might be damaged, according to the report, adding that this, combined with a disruption in fuel supplies, could interrupt the supply of drinking water for up to 10 million people.
An oil spill might shut off all of Yemen’s fisheries (and those of the neighbouring nations). These fisheries provide employment for 1.7 million people, and closures are required to ascertain that no contaminated commercial fish enters the human food chain, the most serious threats are to the livelihood of fishing communities.
