The UN has bought an unnamed supertanker from the Belgian shipping company Euronav. After a refit, the tanker is sailing to the Red Sea, where it will take on a cargo of 1.1 million barrels of crude oil, which is contained in the 46-year-old and corroded supertanker, FSO Safer, a few nautical miles off the coast of Yemen.
FSO Safer has been a ticking environmental bomb in the Red Sea for years. But only recently did the UN manage to reach an agreement with the Houthi militia - who control the area - to empty FSO Safer of crude oil before an environmental disaster occurs.
Bands have penetrated FSO Safer several times, which due to the civil war in Yemen has not been maintained since 2015.
FSO Safer contains four times as much crude oil as Exxeon Valdez, which in 1989 caused one of the worst pollution disasters in the country's history.
It is expected that the transfer of oil to the newly purchased tankers can start in just over 2 months.
