In a statement, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said the operation averted a “monumental environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.”
An international team began extracting the oil from the wrecked ship known as the SOF Safer on July 25. All the oil is now on board a replacement tanker called MOST Yemen.
Before the transfer, the Safer was carrying four times as much oil as was spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska, one of the world’s worst ecological catastrophes, according to the UN.
International organizations and rights groups have warned for years about the possibility of a spill or explosion on the tanker, which has not been maintained and has seawater in the engine compartment and damaged pipes.
It is docked 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from Yemen’s western Red Sea ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa, a strategic area controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels who are at war with the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
The warring parties blamed each other for blocking an operation to extract the oil until a UN-led initiative managed to gain access to the vessel and raise money from international donors.
The transfer marks a huge milestone in a plan that needs additional funding to transport the oil and move the SOF Safer. The UN said a small amount of oil remains inside the Safer’s hull and the salvage team needs to install a safe system to dock the replacement tanker in deep water.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
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