The U.S. government has entered into a partnership with the Netherlands to back the United Nation's efforts to address and stave off the economic, environmental and humanitarian threats posed by the Safer oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Representatives from the two sides recently met in Washington to plot strategy, according to a May 27 Department of State news release. Part of the plan includes raising $144 million of which $80 million is earmarked for the offloading of the oil aboard the tanker onto a temporary vessel.
"The Safer is a rapidly decaying and unstable supertanker that contains four times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez," the release reported. "It could leak, spill or explode at any time, severely disrupting shipping routes in the Gulf region and other industries across the Red Sea region, unleashing an environmental disaster and worsening the humanitarian crisis in Yemen."
With high winds and volatile currents only expected to increase in October, experts warn if the supertanker were to spill, the expected cost of cleanup alone is in the neighborhood of $20 billion, according to the release.
In April, U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking and Dutch Ambassador to Yemen Peter Derrek Hof joined UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen David Gressly on a regional trip to warn about Safer. The recent Washington meeting included Dutch Ambassador to the United States André Haspels, U.S. Special Envoy Lenderking, Yemeni Ambassador to the United States Mohammed al-Hadrami and other representatives from the diplomatic community.
With nearly half of the funds needed collected during the gathering in Washington, authorities are urging public and private donors to consider contributing to the cause, the release reported.
