Saudi Arabia on Sunday pledged $10 million to an old Yemeni oil tanker to help prevent a potentially devastating spill in the Red Sea bordering its waters.
The 45-year-old oil tanker, known as the FSO Safe, had long been used as a temporary storage platform and left the now rebel-held Yemeni port of Hodeida, after Yemen fell into the civil war. He has not been served.
The Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after Houthi rebels captured the capital Sanaa last year.
The United Nations warned last month that the tanker, which is located about 150 kilometers (100 miles) south of the border with Saudi Arabia, was in “imminent” danger of breaking down.
According to the United Nations, Safer has four times the amount of oil spilled by the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, one of the world’s worst ecological disasters.
Last week environmental campaign group Greenpeace urged the Arab League to raise funds for an operation that would move its 1.1 million barrels of oil to a separate vessel.
A United Nations pledge last month fell far short of its $80 million target, bringing in only $33 million.
Environmentalists warn the operation will cost more than the estimated $20 billion it would cost to clean up a spill.
The United Nations has said an oil spill could destroy ecosystems, shut down the fishing industry and shut down the lifeline Hodeida port for six months.
It has said the operation needs to be completed by the end of September to avoid “turbulent winds” rising later in the year.
Riyadh will donate $10 million to the effort through King Salman’s Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.
The agency said, “The Kingdom calls on the United Nations to take necessary measures to ensure the prevention of oil spills … and also calls on the international community to support this initiative and make urgent contributions to prevent a serious environmental disaster.” invokes.”
According to the Military Balance Database prepared by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Saudi Arabia’s current defense spending is $36.8 billion per year.
The war in Yemen has killed hundreds of thousands and left millions on the brink of famine.
But fighting has subsided since April, when a ceasefire went into effect, with the ceasefire currently due to last until August.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.