CAIRO — The U.N. environment chief said Wednesday that “time is running out” to avert an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe from a deteriorating oil tanker loaded with 1.1 million barrels of crude oil that is moored off the coast of Yemen. Inger Andersen told the U.N. Security Council that an oil spill from the FSO Safer, which hasn’t been maintained for over five years, would wreck ecosystems and livelihoods for decades. “Prevention of such a crisis from precipitating is really the only option,” she said. “Despite the difficult operational context, no effort should be spared to first conduct a technical assessment and initial light repairs.”Houthi rebels, who control the area where the ship is moored, have denied U.N. inspectors access to the vessel so they could assess the damage and look for ways to secure the tanker by unloading the oil and pulling the ship to safety. But the rebels recently signaled they would approve a U.N. mission to the ship, according to the U.N.

Source: International New York Times July 15, 2020 23:48 UTC