Shafaq news/ Yemen have been concerned that the decaying oil tanker “Safer” Drowned or exploded which could lead to a devastating disaster in Yemen if it is not repaired soon. 

Having seen footage of the destruction wrought by the explosions in Lebanon, Yemeni government has urged the international community to pressure the Houthis to give experts from the United Nations access to the damaged ship so that it can be fixed.

The Safer has been stranded off in the western city of Al Hudaydah since early 2015. It reportedly carries around 1.1 million barrels of crude oil and has recently shown signs of rusting, That leak prompted UN officials to warn of a major impending environmental disaster in the Red Sea, as well as the potential risk of a massive explosion caused by the of gases in the storage tanks.

A Yemeni parliamentary source indicated, last July 11, that the United Nations reached an understanding with “Ansar Allah” (Houthis) who control Al Hudaydah, they initially agreed to allow a UN team to board the ship and assess the damage and unload the oil, And distribute its revenues for paying the salaries of government employees, both military and civilian, in all governorates of Yemen, according to 2014 data.

Meanwhile, Houthis submitted a comprehensive solution document to the United Nations on April 8th, which includes "deployment of a technical mission led by the United Nations to assess the carrier's safer conditions and make initial repairs, provide the necessary technical recommendations and perform repair and maintenance,"

The document also said that based on technical plan, the oil would be extracted from the tanker in a safe manner, including the return of oil-pumping to the tanker through Safer - Ras Issa pipeline.

Earlier, Yemen's Minister of Information Muammar al-Iryani, had previously accused "Ansar Allah" of preventing the UN team from carrying out the necessary maintenance of the tanker, requiring $ 80 million as revenues.

Al-Iryani warned that any oil spill from the tanker, Safer, would lead to an environmental disaster that could extend to Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt.

The oil company in Sana’a accused the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia, in November 2016, of preventing the maintenance of the tanker, which was converted into a floating tank, about 4.8 miles from the port of Ras Issa in Al Hudaydah.