After Beirut blast, experts urge action on region’s other ticking time bomb

After the Beirut explosion last week, in which negligence and abandonment may have been triggers, analysts are calling for action on another ticking time bomb – Yemen’s FSO Safer.

Built in 1976, the rusting oil tanker was once used as offshore storage for the small quantity of oil set for export.

But experts are calling for urgent action to secure the ship, off the coast of Hodeidah, in case it explodes or leaks its cargo of 1.14 million barrels of crude.

Long past its useful life, and neglected during five years of war, the single-hulled ship already shows signs of its age.

Cracks have appeared in the vessel’s hull, allowing seawater to seep inside, the UN said in a report.

It plans to send a team of experts to carry out studies on the ship, but work to make it safe or offload its cargo – valued at about $80 million (Dh293.8m) – has been delayed by the Houthi rebels, who control Hodeidah and access to the ship.

A Yemeni analyst, Ibrahim Jala, called last week for action on the FSO Safer after 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded at Beirut’s port on Tuesday, having been stored there for six years.

Mr Jala, a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute, said 4,900 tonnes of the compound, nearly double the amount left in the Lebanese warehouse, is being stored at Aden port.

He described this and the FSO Safer as nightmare situations.

If the oil aboard the ship leaks, analysts predict, it could cause a catastrophe that would outstrip some of the world’s worst oil spills and cause irreparable damage to much of the Red Sea’s wildlife and coast.