News – Yemen: The Minister of Transport, warned of the catastrophic repercussions in the event of the explosion of the floating oil reservoir (Safer) on the Yemen's shore and the countries of the region in the Red Sea, which could extend to the Suez Canal.

The Ministers of Transport, Abdulwahab Al-Durra said, during his visit to the Maritime Affairs Authority in the port of Hodeidah: "The world is well aware of what it means to pollute the marine environment and kill marine life and the wealth of coral reefs and others, which was formed thousands of years ago in the waters of the Red Sea, in the event of an explosion in the floating tank Safer." 

He stressed the responsibilities of the United Nations to find a solution in providing help to save the floating tank. There's a need to avoid any major environmental catastrophic repercussions along the Red Sea, especially as funding has been provided by the donors, which exceeded seventy million dollars.

He affirmed the ministry's readiness to provide all the necessary facilities for the success of the plans, programs and projects of the Corporation and the Authority, stressing to redouble efforts to continue the activity, maintain the level of existing projects, and expand its activities and investments.

Earlier, The Supervisory Committee for the Execution of the Urgent Maintenance Agreement and the Comprehensive Evaluation of the Floating Oil Tank Safer, has renewed its strong dissatisfaction with the continued disregard by the United Nations of its obligations towards the reservoir. The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) continued to disavow the implementation of the urgent maintenance agreement and the comprehensive evaluation of the floating tank Safer, which was signed in November 2020.

In a statement, the committee warned of the repercussions of the deterioration of the situation of the Safer Reservoir after nearly seven years without any maintenance of the reservoir, which makes the level of an environmental disaster in the Red Sea more significant than ever, which will affect Yemen and neighboring countries for many years. 

The UNOPS submitted its implementation plan in violation of the agreement last May; completely ignoring the agreement and its obligations towards the Safer reservoir, despite knowing that the status of the reservoir could no longer tolerate further delays.

While the committee called for the immediate implementation of the agreement, it holds the UNOPS fully responsible for any leak or explosion of the reservoir, and the resulting unprecedented environmental disaster in the Red Sea. "The responsibility to squander the funds allocated to implement the agreement, which the United Nations Office for Project Services refuses to disclose and its fate, despite the multiple demands directed at it to work on the principle of transparency before public opinion."

UN spent more than 3 and a half million dollars out of the maintenance budget of more than 9 million dollars and no work was carried out.