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UN Technical Vessel Arrives at Rusting Oil Tanker off Yemen’s Coast as Salvage Operation Begins

This handout picture released on May 30, 2023 courtesy of Boskalis shows the first photos of the FSO Safer taken from the salvage vessel Ndeavor near the coast of Yemen. (Handout / Boskalis / AFP)
This handout picture released on May 30, 2023 courtesy of Boskalis shows the first photos of the FSO Safer taken from the salvage vessel Ndeavor near the coast of Yemen. (Handout / Boskalis / AFP)
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UN Technical Vessel Arrives at Rusting Oil Tanker off Yemen’s Coast as Salvage Operation Begins

This handout picture released on May 30, 2023 courtesy of Boskalis shows the first photos of the FSO Safer taken from the salvage vessel Ndeavor near the coast of Yemen. (Handout / Boskalis / AFP)
This handout picture released on May 30, 2023 courtesy of Boskalis shows the first photos of the FSO Safer taken from the salvage vessel Ndeavor near the coast of Yemen. (Handout / Boskalis / AFP)

The first technical salvage vessel arrived Tuesday near the rusting Safer oil tanker floating off the coast of Yemen, the United Nations said.

The arrival of Ndeavor, which set off from neighboring Djibouti on Monday, marks the first step of an estimated four- to six-week UN operation aiming to avert a major oil spill from the tanker, representatives from the international body announced.

Experts say the tanker poses a major environmental threat.

A team of experts on the Cypriot-flagged Ndeavor are expected to begin pumping inert gas to remove atmospheric oxygen from the oil chambers of the Safer on Wednesday, said David Gressly, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.

Transferring the estimated 1.14 million barrels of oil to a different tanker could start in around two weeks, he said from aboard the Ndeavor. After the transfer is complete, the Japan-made oil tanker will eventually be towed away and scrapped, he said.

The Safer was built in the 1970s and sold to the Yemeni government in the 1980s to store up to 3 million barrels of oil pumped from fields in Marib, a province in central Yemen. But the nation has been engulfed for years in war and no annual maintenance has been carried out on the ship, which is 360 meters (1,181 feet) long with 34 storage tanks, since 2015.

The Safer is anchored around 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of the port city of Hodeidah, which is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

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Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Can ‘Crush’ All Terrorists in Syria

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)
Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a press conference during the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 19, 2024. (AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Türkiye had the power and ability to "crush" all terrorists in Syria, including ISIS and Kurdish militants, while urging all countries to "take their hands off" Syria.

Since last month's fall of Bashar al-Assad, Türkiye has said repeatedly it was time for the Kurdish YPG militia to disband. Ankara considers the group, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as a terrorist organization.

Ankara has said the new Syrian administration must be given an opportunity to address the YPG presence, but also threatened to mount a new cross-border operation against the militia based in northeast Syria if its demands are not met.

Speaking in parliament, Erdogan said the YPG was the biggest problem in Syria now, and added that the group would not be able to escape its inevitable end unless it lays down its arms.

"Regarding fabricated excuses like ISIS, these have no convincing side anymore," Erdogan said, referring to the US position that the YPG was a key partner against ISIS in Syria and that it plays a vital role guarding prison camps where the extremist militants are kept.

"If there is really a fear of the ISIS threat in Syria and the region, the biggest power that has the will and power to resolve this issue is Türkiye," he said.

"Everyone should take their hands off Syria and we, along with our Syrian siblings, will crush the heads of ISIS, the YPG and other terrorist organizations in a short time."

Türkiye has repeatedly asked its NATO ally the United States to halt support for the SDF, and has said the new administration in Syria had offered to take over the management of the prisons. 

Later on Wednesday , Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara is ready to provide support to the new Syrian administration for the management of ISIS camps in the country.

"As we have always said, we are also ready to provide the necessary assistance to the new administration in the management of ISIS camps and prisons," Fidan said.

Speaking in Ankara following his meeting with his Syrian counterpart Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, Fidan also said diplomatic efforts will continue to ensure the removal of sanctions against Syria.