Broken Pipe inside Safer Tanker off Yemen Brings it Closer to Disaster

This image provided by I.R. Consilium taken in 2019, shows the extent of the corrosion in the boiler system inside the FSO Safer tanker, moored off Ras Issa port, Yemen. (AP)
This image provided by I.R. Consilium taken in 2019, shows the extent of the corrosion in the boiler system inside the FSO Safer tanker, moored off Ras Issa port, Yemen. (AP)
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Broken Pipe inside Safer Tanker off Yemen Brings it Closer to Disaster

This image provided by I.R. Consilium taken in 2019, shows the extent of the corrosion in the boiler system inside the FSO Safer tanker, moored off Ras Issa port, Yemen. (AP)
This image provided by I.R. Consilium taken in 2019, shows the extent of the corrosion in the boiler system inside the FSO Safer tanker, moored off Ras Issa port, Yemen. (AP)

An official at the SAFER Exploration and Production Operations Company reiterated his call for the immediate unloading of the fuel cargo on board the eroding Safer oil tanker to avert a disaster off the Yemeni coast.

The official revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the main export pipe at the tanker has been broke due to strong winds and waves.

The pipe is now broken in half, he warned, saying disaster was imminent.

The Iran-backed Houthi militias have, under various excuses, been barring a United Nations team of experts from accessing the vessel to assess it and determine what repairs it needs.

The Houthis will refuse the unloading of the oil cargo should they grant the team access to the tanker, said the official. “This obstacle will have consequences.”

“We must focus on unloading the cargo, not just repairing the tanker. The team must be allowed to remove the oil immediately,” he urged.

The vessel, which is carrying a cargo of 1.1 million barrels of oil, has been moored off the coast of Ras Issa, in Hodeidah province, since 2015.

The eroding tanker is in desperate need of repair. Water has already started to leak into its engine room, prompting UN officials to warn 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.

The Houthis that control Hodeidah have been obstructing UN efforts to send maintenance teams to the tanker, heedless of the crisis and looming danger.

Meanwhile, Arab Parliament Speaker Dr. Mishaal al-Salami pleaded on Friday with the international community to intervene to stop the impending disaster.

He held the Houthis completely responsible for preventing the UN team from carrying out the necessary repairs and maintenance operations on the vessel.

The international community must act “immediately and urgently to grant the team access in order to avert this major humanitarian disaster,” he demanded.



Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Says Israel Is Establishing a New Security Corridor across Gaza

An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)
An internally displaced Palestinian walks at the site of a UN clinic following an Israeli airstrike, in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 02 April 2025. (EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Wednesday, he described it as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities.

His comments came as Palestinian officials at hospitals inside Gaza said Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war against Hamas began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.