Disaster waiting to happen.

[Julian Norman]

I saw a BBC report this morning that a storage tanker the FSO Safer (360m long, 400000dwt) carrying over 1 million barrels of crude, has been moored but abandoned off Yemen in the Red Sea for over 5 years. The Houthi rebels have denied any access during this time so no maintenance has been carried out. She is 45 years old!.
The UN have been trying to arrange access for years and finally hope to have an inspection done in the New Year. That could just be the start of further problems if the ship is deteriorating, while arguments are still ongoing between the rebels and Yemeni Govt. regarding cargo ownership.
The environmental disaster could be immense in a country ravaged by years of war with no resources to deal with it.
We all know with ships it is out of sight out of mind. Lets hope in this case a disaster is not what gets peoples attention!

[John Arton]

There are reports of a Greek operated tanker being struck by a mine in that area.
https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/mine-blast-damages-oil-tanker-off-saudi-arabia-s-coast-41791#:~:text=The%20explosion%20struck%20the%20MT, tanker%20near%20Shuqaiq%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia.&text=A%20mine%20in%20the%20Red,war%20against%20Yem en's%20Houthi%20rebels.
Rgds
J.A.

[john walker]

I worked in the Yemen for a total of about 2 years (1989/92) as a field manager for a facilities and catering company (Ligabue ) who had the main bulk of the contracts for the Yemen Hunt oil Co and all of their camps and facilities, from the production/exploration and seismic/ survey areas at Marib oil basin with its small refinery (Upstream) through the pipe line pumping/pressure reducing stations that took the crude out to that ship of off Hodeidah (Al Hudaydah ) in the Red Sea Downstream. I was also responsible for the crew changes every month on that ship (Italian Nationals) as they stayed for a night at an accommodation/transit camp in Sanaa on arrival and one night on exiting. I do remember when ever I visited the ship that most of the pumping and day to day generating machinery appeared to be well maintained but she had been converted to an unpropelled storage facility and a lot of the general hull etc. areas were either for operational reasons/lack of man power were an afterthought as the ship had no need to go anywhere. At that time there was probably about a two hundred thousand barrel a day production with only a small amount of refinery capacity for the Yemen as most of it was exported for vitally needed petro/dollars . Most of the the gases that are a volatile side product of oil production were flared off which was one hell of a waste, as if the 'powers that be' had built a collection and bottling plant there was a ready made local market for cooking and heating. Still it was not considered that important as the Saudis used to supply a lot at a given cost/gift they were the Yemenis friends.
Fast forward to 1990/91 and the first Gulf conflict/war The Yemenis were pro Iraq/ Saddam Hussein and strongly against the Western led coalition. One of the first things that the Saudis and other pro coalition Gulf states did was kick out about 750,000/1,000,000 Yemenis and stop all economic aid. An awful lot of those people were the Houthis who are todays rebels who occupy the city and are in a position to decide what ever happens to the ship. The government at the time led by Ali Abdullah Saleh could only govern with the help of the Houthi people. Saleh had ruled/misruled for about 33 years after a coup in 78. He had managed to unite the two parts of Yemen in 1990. Throw into the equation the usual religious divides in that part of the Arabian peninsular plus all the corruption that goes with it and one of the poorest countries in the Arab world it makes very dangerous/explosive political structure.
Fast forward once again to 2004 and I went back to the Yemen for about 2 more years just in time for another coup civil insurrection which in my mind never ended. I think that the tipping point for Yemen came in 2003 with the American led invasion of Iraq that is the war that managed to radicalise an awful lot of the Islamic world but especially the Yemen. Saleh had managed to kill the tribal leader of the Houthi Hussein Al Houthi' and was trying to destroy the Houthi people and their tribal homelands (It reminds me of Afghanistan and the Taliban Et Al.) He was doing this with massive amounts of Saudi aid and direct intervention by the Saudi military. The Houthis beat and humiliated both the Yemeni/Saudi army/air force time and again. This was despite a policy of mass bombing/gassing/ starvation and one of the worlds worst humanitarian disasters aimed at the Houthis during the last 5/6 years.
I still have good friends both Houthi and from other tribes in the Yemen who I have occasional contact with, the way they see it is that they control the city and look at the ship as just another bargaining chip/ asset in a long civil war that has seen tens of thousands of there people slaughtered. Up until last year the production from the Marib field had dropped to about 40,000 barrels (So I am told) It was still being pumped to the ship for export. My friends think the FSO Safer is owned by the Yemen government oil company and its U.S.A./French/Japanese partners. Those companies were not to bothered about the ships maintenance before the present fiasco and since it has been moored there for about 36 years and was built in 1976 by Hitachi (Esso Japan) this is a disaster that has been waiting to happen for a lot more than the last 5 years. As the B.B.C. and other media companies would have us believe.
Some of my Yemeni friends feel that if there is a major disaster then that is the comeuppance that the Saudis deserve as a pay back for the roughly 6 billion dollars a year that it costs them for their support in the Yemini civil war. I agree with your post Julian nobody wants to see a disaster in one of the worlds most ecologically sensitive environments like the Red Sea. it will need a lot more information in the media than that little snippet from the B.B.C about how and why plus a lot of talking and leaning on the various governments involved from the Americans especially. My apologies if my post is a bit long winded and may seem at times politically biased but I have a lot of esteem for the Yemen and its people and have just tried to say it as I see it. Cheers J.W.

[john walker]

Alas I think that is just the start of an escalation in the Red Sea between the Houthi rebels and there allies in the Yemen and the Saudi government/ people. There are all sorts of arms and armaments being supplied to the Houthis by Iran and others who detest the Saudis and their allies and would be delighted to see even more destabilisation of that part of the World.

[happy daze john in oz]

That part of the world is forever a hot bed of problems.
Nightly we see on SBS news service the problems of theses regions.

It gives the appearance no one works, they spend all day shooting the guns, not sure who at, and rarely see any females.

Then some get on a boat to cross some sea calling themselves refugees in the hope someone will take them in.
But again only men.

Could this be the start of 'those religious people' making a back door entry into other countries

[Julian Norman]

Thanks JW for taking the time to give some context to the story. Hopefully while both sides have an interest in its cargo they may act before its too late.

[John Arton]

Seems like there may be a solution to the problem shortly.
Rgds
J.A.
https://gcaptain.com/houthis-approve...eid=3b737aa316

[john walker]

John I looked at that article yesterday when trying to find some impartial and in depth news on the subject. There is a reasonable article and assessment on the I.M.O. site titled FSO Safer oil spill risk which is worth a read unfortunately I am incapable of posting a link to the site.

[Mike Hewitt]

Of course it is John. It is a silent invasion. The UK over the next couple of generations will change completely. Even now some areas of the country the ethic British are in a minority. As their rate of breeding is higher than ours the whole of the countries ethnicity will change. As of even now where they will gain power by majority in local and national government. As is happening now they will also control a lot of commerce. Laws will change to their system (which when you think about that might not be a bad idea as there would be some very worried criminals around). Just glad that I am at the latter end of my time on the planet. We have probably lived through the best years. The biggest hurdle is the fact that we have been effectively gagged under the guise of any freedom of speech on the subject is racial and thus forbidden by law.

[Captain Kong]

I already live in a foreign country and ruled by them,
My neighbours in my avenue are `them`14 houses, English four houses. out of 18.
my town councillors are `them` and my MP is also. from pa kist anni
Es salaam u-alakum
Brian