FM stresses importance of UN commitment to ‘Safer’ floating tank maintenance agreement

Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf on Tuesday stressed the importance of the United Nations’ commitment to implementing the maintenance agreement for the Floating Oil Tank ‘Safer’ as soon as possible.

This came during his meeting today with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)’s resident representative in Yemen, Auke Lootsma, to discuss the deteriorating situation of the Safer tank.

In the meeting, Sharaf warned of the repercussions of any delay in the maintenance of the Safer reservoir on the safety of the marine environment in the southern Red Sea region, which will not be limited to Yemeni territorial waters only, but will include many neighboring countries, in addition to the aspects of navigational safety and security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab.

He indicated that dealing with this important issue has been long overdue, and that the situation now requires overcoming the slow routine in order to avoid a potential disaster.

For his part, Lootsma confirmed that the United Nations and the international community are aware of the risks of any oil leakage that may occur from the Safer reservoir, and are keen to finalize coordination to start implementing the agreement.