Houthi militias have stepped up the presence of armed gunmen on board the derelict oil tanker, Safer, which is moored off the coast of Hodeidah, the Minister of Oil and Minerals Aws al-Awd warned on Monday.
Awd stressed that the Houthi move increases the chances of the rundown ship exploding or sinking.
The minister held Houthis responsible for the impending disaster of over a million barrels of crude oil leaking into Red Sea waters. He blamed reckless Houthi actions for the deteriorated condition of the oil platform and the increased risk of an explosion taking place.
Without any regard to safety and security regulations, Houthis authorized increased armed presence on board Safer.
“The situation at Safer is getting worse by the day,” Awd highlighted, criticizing Houthis for denying access to UN maintenance expert teams and delaying discharge operations focused on emptying the tanker which is no longer in shape to store oil.
“Houthi obstruction will lead to disastrous outcomes,” Awd cautioned.
An oil spill at Safer not only threatens Yemen’s marine environment, but also endangers environmental security of neighboring countries.
“At a time the world panics about an environmental and economic catastrophe taking place at Safer, we find Houthis stalling the process of unloading the ship’s crude oil content under UN supervision,” Awd noted.
He underscored that his country assigns accountability for the pending disaster to Houthis.
“Houthi intransigence will lead to frightening environmental scenarios that include destroying biodiversity in over 100 Yemeni islands, putting tens of thousands of Yemeni fishermen out of work and killing hundreds of marine life creatures,” Awd said.
The minister reaffirmed that Yemeni government cooperation with the UN on the Safer crisis is serious, and called on the international body and the UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths to shoulder their responsibility towards the matter.
Awd urged more pressure to be placed on Houthi militias to expedite the process of safely unloading the oil onboard Safer.
