Ticking timebomb in the Red Sea

Business Daily

BBC

Business

4.4 • 816 Ratings

🗓️ 20 October 2021

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

Decaying oil tanker could trigger an environmental and humanitarian disaster. The FSO Safer is marooned off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea, close to one of the world's biggest shipping lanes. A massive oil spill or explosion from it could disrupt global trade for months and lead to an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe. It's loaded with hundreds of tons of crude oil, its hull is rusting and it hasn't moved in years. So why isn't anybody doing anything about it? Nominally the Safer is the property of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. Right now though, both it and its multi-million dollar cargo are controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. UN officials say the Houthis have broken an agreement to allow an inspection of the vessel. The Saudis accuse them of holding the world to ransom over the potential disaster. The Houthis disagree. Ed Butler speaks to Ghiwa Naket, the executive director of Greenpeace for the Middle East and North Africa, to Ben Huynh a researcher at Stanford University, to Hussain Albukhaiti a Yemeni journalist with close links to the Houthi leadership and to Peter Salisbury, senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group. (Picture description: Maxar Satellite image of the FSO Safer tanker moored off Ras Issa port, in Yemen. Picture credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, my name's Ed Butler and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC.
0:05.7	Today, the ticking time bomb, threatening Yemen, the Red Sea and global trade.
0:11.8	We could have at any time a leak or an explosion, which would cause a major environmental, economical and humanitarian disaster.
0:23.9	Potentially the biggest oil spill in history. Some fear. So why isn't more being done?
0:29.4	This is nerve-wracking. This thing could blow up or sink tomorrow. It really is kind of
0:34.8	almost a Schrodinger's cat of a problem.
0:38.4	We don't know at any given moment whether it'll be dead or alive.
0:41.6	The fate of the Saffer oil tanker that's coming up on Business Daily from the BBC.
0:53.8	Picture the scene, a massive oil tanker, 350 metres long, moored out at sea. It's loaded with
1:01.4	hundreds of tonnes of crude oil. It hasn't moved in years. It can't. The engines have failed.
1:07.7	The hull is now rusting and it's pounded by waves. For the handful of crew
1:12.6	members still on board battling to keep the ship afloat, things are getting desperate.
1:17.9	The ship moves forward each day towards the worst. Science, mind, logic, experience, all confirm
1:25.9	that disaster is imminent. But when it will exactly happen,
1:31.4	Allah only knows.
1:35.7	These panic-stricken words were written by the ship's chief engineer in a leaked report last year.
1:41.5	The problem for the boat, the FSO Safa, is explained by its ownership
1:46.6	and its location. It's sitting in the Red Sea, 100 kilometres of the coast of Yemen. It's a country
1:52.5	mired for years in civil war, and the ship is claimed by both sides, the government and the rebel
1:59.6	Houthi militia.
2:05.4	Hugh Anaket is the executive director of Greenpeace for the Middle Eastern North Africa.
2:07.7	It's a ticking time bomb. The greatest risk is we could have at any time a leak or an explosion,
	...

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