The United Nations is turning to public crowdfunding to prevent a decaying tanker from causing an oil spill off the coast of Yemen that could have disastrous implications for the greater region.
A U.N. donor conference last month failed to raise the amount needed for the rescue of the stricken FSO Safer tanker, which experts say could break apart or explode at any moment. The organization earlier warned that it would cost $20 billion to clean up the spill.
According to the U.N., around $80 million is needed to start the salvage operation. Three-quarters of the sum has now been collected.
U.N. emergency relief coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, hopes the new crowdfunding campaign can raise $5 million from private individuals.
The Safer has been used as a floating oil storage tank since the 1980s and is carrying 1.1 million barrels of crude oil. The ship is now considered structurally unsound as it has not been maintained since war broke out in Yemen in 2015.
In the event of a leak, an explosion in the tanks or a rupture, four times as much oil could escape as in the 1989 disaster involving the tanker Exxon Valdez off Alaska.
Any operation to move it would take several months and would have to be completed before the weather off the coast of Yemen worsens starting in September.
Strong winds and unsteady currents starting in October would then make the operation more difficult and increase the risk of the rusting tanker breaking apart.
In addition to the devastating damage to people and the environment in the region, shipping in the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Suez Canal would also be severely affected.
