Yemen: Rescue Operation for ‘Safer’ Enters Final Stages

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak held discussions on Monday with the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak held discussions on Monday with the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly (Saba News Agency)
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Yemen: Rescue Operation for ‘Safer’ Enters Final Stages

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak held discussions on Monday with the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak held discussions on Monday with the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly (Saba News Agency)

Roughly two weeks after its initiation, the final stages of the rescue operation for the derelict oil tanker Safer, moored off the coasts of Yemen, have commenced.

Over 85% of the crude oil has been successfully transferred to the alternative vessel off the shores of Ras Isa in Hodeidah Governorate on the Red Sea, as reported by the UN.

The UN has disclosed that approximately 85% of the oil aboard Safer, estimated at 1.15 million barrels, has been transferred, indicating that only about 15% of the crude oil remains.

The process of extracting the cargo from the colossal yet dilapidated Safer to a new vessel, off the strategic Yemeni port of Hodeidah in the Red Sea, was initiated on July 23 in a mission aimed at averting an environmental catastrophe.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak held discussions on Monday with the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, concerning the progress of the first phase of the Safer rescue plan, along with the oil transfer to the alternative tank.

The minister affirmed that during his meeting with Yemen’s resident humanitarian affairs coordinator, he was informed that 85% of the oil on board Safer has been successfully moved to the new vessel.

Mubarak expressed gratitude for the international and regional support in the execution of the project and the preservation of the marine environment from a potential catastrophe with grave humanitarian and economic repercussions, according to Yemeni news agency Saba.

The Yemeni minister also emphasized the importance of intensifying efforts, mobilizing resources, and supporting state institutions at both the local and central levels to regain their service-oriented roles and alleviate the severity of the humanitarian crisis.

According to the UN, the transfer of 1.15 million barrels of crude to the new vessel is expected to take around 3 weeks.

Through this process, the UN hopes to avert the risks of an environmental disaster that could incur damages of approximately $20 billion, in an operation estimated to cost $143 million.

Safer, built 47 years ago and used as a floating storage platform, is anchored about 50 kilometers off the strategic port of Hodeidah, which serves as a main gateway for nearly 70% of Yemen’s key imports.



Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 11 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."