The United Nations announced that it will begin unloading the floating Safer oil tanker off the Yemeni coast of Hodeidah in early 2023. The mission will last for 18 months.
According to two documents issued by the UN, there is a proposal for the presence of an international coordinator in Hodeidah to oversee the unloading.
Moreover, the process is linked to the success of technical and security arrangements for the employees of the company that will carry out the mission.
The UN must also ensure that there are no armed elements of the Houthi militia on board the ship.
The two documents, however, did not specify exactly how the amount of oil will be sold, nor the fate of the derelict tanker.
According to the overview sheet of the ship’s unloading plan, the first step will focus on the evaluation and inspection of Safer to create a safe working environment for individuals and the ship.
This will be followed by preparations for transferring the vessel’s cargo to another ship.
According to this vision, the executing team will then conduct an examination of the structure of the tanker, closing the ends of the pipeline and disconnecting the cranes, as well as determining whether the pipeline can be closed to prevent pollution during separation.
Divers are expected to secure the pipeline end valves.
The UN’s plan indicates that initial evaluations show the possibility of applying a connection between the floating tank and an installed buoy.
It shows that these calculations can be performed in detail only when selecting a tanker and considering the loading scenarios.
According to the plan, since the cargo will remain - at least initially - in place on the new ship, there is no need to determine “whether owners will agree to waive their rights so that the oil can be sold.”
The document states that the technical plan emergency prepared by Smit Salvage. This phase is expected to take four months.
