Sanaa warns of deterioration of Safer reservoir, holds UN responsible
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The current situation of the Safer reservoir is getting worse day by day, which may result in a major environmental disaster.
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The Safer oil reservoir in Yemen (Archive)
The ministries of Transport and Oil in the Sanaa government warned Monday of the catastrophic deterioration of the Safer reservoir as a result of the suspension of periodic maintenance work in it since 2015 due to the war and the Saudi coalition siege imposed on Yemen.
In a meeting, the Minister of Transport, Abdul Wahab Al-Durra, and the Minister of Oil and Minerals, Ahmad Daris, affirmed that the current situation of the Safer reservoir is getting worse day by day, which may result in a major environmental disaster that threatens marine life and the environment in the Red Sea region and the surrounding countries.
The two ministers pointed to the keenness of the revolutionary leadership, the Supreme Political Council, and the Salvation Government in the Safer reservoir through continuous communication with the United Nations to find effective and quick solutions to this problem.
The Yemeni ministers explained that the Safer reservoir - which holds more than one million and 200 thousand barrels of crude oil - is constantly being corroded due to the failure to perform the necessary periodic maintenance.
The UN has not fulfilled its obligations
They also warned that the strong winds that the Red Sea will witness during the coming days will exacerbate the catastrophic situation of the Safer reservoir, noting that Yemen has signed an agreement with the United Nations to conduct maintenance of the reservoir as soon as possible, but the UN has not fulfilled its obligations.
The ministries of Transport and Oil in the Sanaa government held the United Nations fully responsible in the event of any catastrophic repercussions for the Safer reservoir.
On March 5, the Sanaa government signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations regarding the reservoir.
The United Nations announced that it needs about $144 million to solve the crisis of the malfunctioning reservoir in the waters of the Red Sea, which threatens to spill 1.1 million barrels of crude oil off the coast.
It is noteworthy that the Safer oil reservoir is located in the port of Ras Issa, north of the port of Al-Hudaydah. The lack of its maintenance since late 2014 has led to water leakage to its structure.
