Disaster waiting to happen.
I saw a BBC report this morning that a storage tanker the FSO Safer (360m long, 400000dwt) carrying over 1 million barrels of crude, has been moored but abandoned off Yemen in the Red Sea for over 5 years. The Houthi rebels have denied any access during this time so no maintenance has been carried out. She is 45 years old!.
The UN have been trying to arrange access for years and finally hope to have an inspection done in the New Year. That could just be the start of further problems if the ship is deteriorating, while arguments are still ongoing between the rebels and Yemeni Govt. regarding cargo ownership.
The environmental disaster could be immense in a country ravaged by years of war with no resources to deal with it.
We all know with ships it is out of sight out of mind. Lets hope in this case a disaster is not what gets peoples attention!
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