First Houthi’s comment on the positioning of the Safer Tanker
On Wednesday, Mohammed Al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council, expressed his position on the UN’s plans to replace the floating oil tanker off the western coast of Yemen “Safer”.
Exclusive – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:
“Al-Houthi emphasized the necessity for the new tanker to carry out oil export missions, considering that failing to do so would amount to terrorism against the Yemeni people by tightening the blockade, which he described as “criminal” and implemented by the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and UAE.
Al-Houthi commented on the announcement by the United Nations of the start of the process of emptying the Safer oil tanker after years of arrangements.
David Gressly, the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, said that the United Nations is preparing to replace the old tanker with a new one.
According to official media reports, the government of Sana’a confirmed that the new tanker “ENDEAVOR” docked at the port of Ras Issa in order to prepare for the emptying process.
More than a million barrels of crude oil are stored on the Safer tanker, dating back to the 1970s. Since the start of the Saudi Arabia-led war eight years ago, there have been regional and international concerns about the risk of tanker explosion due to the failure of their maintenance efforts.
Despite the fact that the new tanker is considered a temporary solution due to its worn-out condition and age, the government of Sana’a hopes that the agreement to maintain the Safer tanker and empty its contents will facilitate progress in negotiations for oil exports from Marib, which were previously carried out through it.