Middle East & Africa | Safer at last

The UN will finally defuse a floating bomb in the Red Sea

It still needs more money to avert a famine in Yemen

This handout satellite image obtained courtesy of Maxar Technologies on July 19, 2020 shows a close up view of the FSO Safer oil tanker on June 19, 2020 off the port of Ras Isa. - The United Nations held an unusual session July 15, 2020 to express fears of "catastrophe" if a decaying oil tanker abandoned off Yemen's coast with 1.1 million barrels of crude on board ruptures into the Red Sea. A breach of the 45-year-old FSO Safer, anchored off the port of Hodeida, would have disastrous results for marine life and tens of thousands of impoverished people who depend on fishing for their livelihood. The UN Security Council said it had sent details of a plan for an inspection team to conduct light repairs and determine the next steps to the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who control Hodeida, on Tuesday. (Photo by Handout / Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
|DUBAI

The sailors on board the Safer will be happy to be out of a job. Anchored since 1988 near Hodeida, on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, the tanker was used as a floating oil-storage and export terminal. But since 2015 war has made it impossible to maintain the almost half-century-old ship.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Safer at last”

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