Safer Oil Tanker Official Underlines Need to Unload Decaying Ship

The Safer Oil Tanker sailing off Hodeidah, Yemen
The Safer Oil Tanker sailing off Hodeidah, Yemen
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Safer Oil Tanker Official Underlines Need to Unload Decaying Ship

The Safer Oil Tanker sailing off Hodeidah, Yemen
The Safer Oil Tanker sailing off Hodeidah, Yemen

A senior official at the Safer Exploration & Production Operations Company (SEPOC) cast doubts on the ability of international donors and the United Nations to manage the operating expenses of the "Safer" oil tanker should they succeed in restoring the decaying ship.

SEPOC owns the derelict oil tanker that is moored north of Yemen’s main port of Hodeidah.

Explaining that the true challenge lies in operating "Safer" after maintenance is over, the official stressed the need to first unload the oil onboard the rundown ship to avoid an environmental catastrophe.

The Safer oil tanker is laden with some 1.1 million barrels of crude oil and has been stranded with no maintenance since early 2015, soon after the Iran-backed Houthi militias staged their coup in Yemen.

Left to deteriorate, the tanker threatens a grave environmental catastrophe in case of a leak or an explosion taking place.

UK Ambassador to Yemen Michael Aron warned that Houthis continue to reject granting UN experts access to the ship as they are exploiting the tanker’s dire situation to blackmail and pressure the international community.

Speaking under condition of anonymity, the SEPOC official confirmed that the UN and international donors have no plans for operating Safer after concluding its maintenance.

“In the event that maintenance is completed, the tanker needs operations to maintain it, and this requires costs and capabilities. If these capabilities were available to us, we would not have reached this dangerous stage,” the official told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had confirmed that his country would play a positive and constructive role in the UN Security Council to reach an appropriate proposal for resolving the conflict over the tanker.

In a written message to the speaker of the Arab Parliament, Meshaal Al-Salami, the Chinese diplomat relayed China’s understanding of the dangers posed by Safer and his willingness to address the issue in the Security Council.

Houthi militias have been holding the tanker hostage since 2015 and not allowing any teams onboard to perform maintenance works.



Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Airstrikes in Syria

Syrians lift placards as they demonstrate in the central Karama Square of the southern city of Sweida on February 25, 2025, in rejection of statements made by Israel's premier on the weekend. (AFP)
Syrians lift placards as they demonstrate in the central Karama Square of the southern city of Sweida on February 25, 2025, in rejection of statements made by Israel's premier on the weekend. (AFP)
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Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Airstrikes in Syria

Syrians lift placards as they demonstrate in the central Karama Square of the southern city of Sweida on February 25, 2025, in rejection of statements made by Israel's premier on the weekend. (AFP)
Syrians lift placards as they demonstrate in the central Karama Square of the southern city of Sweida on February 25, 2025, in rejection of statements made by Israel's premier on the weekend. (AFP)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned on Wednesday the Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions in Syria as a “a reckless provocation and an escalation that seizes the opportunity of political transition in Syria to establish an illegal and illegitimate reality.”

He called for the international community “to take clear positions to condemn this unjustified aggression that aims to ignite tension in the region and put obstacles in the way of political transition in Syria.”

Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Israel has regularly launched airstrike on military sites in Syria and Israeli forces moved into territory in southern Syria adjacent to the Israel-occupied Golan Heights and have made clear they plan to stay indefinitely, citing security concerns.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel won’t allow Syria’s new army to “enter the area south of Damascus.”

There has been no official response from the Syrian interim government, led by members of the former opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to Netanyahu’s comments, but Syrian officials have called for Israel to withdraw from the territory it has seized since Assad’s fall.