Canada has chipped in with C$2.5m ($1.9m) to add to the urgently needed funds sought by the United Nations to to support the urgent international salvage operation of the FSO Safer off Yemen, a decaying tanker carrying 1.1m barrels of crude, which risks breaking up creating one of the worst environmental disasters recorded in the Red Sea.
off Yemen, a decaying tanker carrying 1.1m barrels of crude, which risks breaking up creating one of the worst environmental disasters recorded in the Red Sea.The latest donation means the UN is still some $14m shy of its $80m target required to avert a catastrophe experts have warned would be five times worse than the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989.
The proposed salvage operation consists of two processes occurring at the same time. One is the temporary ship-to-ship transfer of the FSO Safer’s cargo of crude oil into a replacement tanker and the other involves finding a permanent solution for replacing the abandoned FSO Safer.
“Canada is supporting UN-led efforts to prevent a catastrophic spill. The potential consequences would be devastating not only environmentally, but would also destroy livelihoods and force closures of ports Hodeidah and Saleef in Yemen, which support the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance including shelter, food, water and health care,” commented Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s minister of international development.
