FSO Safer: A Shipwreck in Slow Motion
Publisher: Greenpeace
Author(s): Kathryn Miller, Paul Johnston, David Santillo, Paul Horsman, and Ahmed El Droubi
Date: 2021
Topics: Disasters, Public Health, Renewable Resources, Weapons, Waste, and Pollution
Countries: Saudi Arabia, Yemen
An ageing oil tanker, converted to a floating storage facility, called the FSO Safer is moored off the Yemeni coast in the Red Sea and is at risk of exploding or leaking its cargo – an estimated 1.14 million barrels (more than 140,000 tonnes) of Marib light crude oil.
The event could be one of the biggest oil spill disasters in history and would cause widespread severe environmental damage and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the country.