Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged on Monday the need to address the issue of the Safer oil tanker that has been moored off Yemen’s Ras Issa port for five years.
In a statement, he said that a disaster similar to the one that struck Beirut port last week was in the making in Yemen if the issue is not addressed.
He demanded that the United Nations Security Council intervene “immediately” to allow UN teams to access the vessel and carry out the necessary repairs.
An official source at the Arab League blamed the Iran-backed Houthi militias of impeding maintenance operations at the tanker. He accused them of misleading the public and stalling in order to prevent the UN team from accessing the ship.
Water has started to leak into the vessel’s engine room, which is increasing the risk of its sinking or explosion, warned the source.
He said Aboul Gheit had slammed the Houthis for their reckless handling of this issue, similar to their uncaring attitude towards the plight of the Yemeni people. Moreover, the militias are prepared to exacerbate this suffering just to remain in power.
Legitimate government spokesman Rajeh Badi revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat earlier this week that the Houthis have prevented engineers from a company in Singapore, which was tasked by the UN to assess the tanker, from accessing the vessel.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have refused to grant them permits to enter the rusting tanker, which has been stranded off the coast for five years and is still carrying a cargo of 1.1 million barrels of oil. UN officials have warned of a major impending environmental disaster in the Red Sea, as well as the potential risk of a massive explosion caused by the buildup of gases in the storage tanks.