Saudi Arabia Pledges $10 Million for Red Sea Oil Tanker Salvage Operation

Saudi Arabia has pledged $10 million to help pay for a salvage operation of a decaying tanker full of oil. The tanker, called the FSO Safer, was abandoned near Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeida, has not been attended to since the start of Yemen’s civil war, and is in danger of breaking apart. The ship’s hold is carrying four times the amount of oil that was spilled by the 1989 Exxon Valdez. The cleanup if the vessel spilled its contents into the Red Sea would reach about $20 billion. The United Nations is leading an effort to transfer the 1.1 million barrels of oil from the Safer to another ship. The UN held a pledging conference last month to raise money to transfer the oil, raising about $33 million of the $80 million needed. The Saudi pledge through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center came on Sunday; the tanker is moored about 100 miles south of Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia. The effects of an oil spill could destroy the fishing industry in the waters off of Yemen and Saudi Arabia. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia calls upon the United Nations 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. 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,” according to a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency.