A press conference was held in the port of Ras Issa in Hodeida province on Wednesday on the latest developments related to the response process and coordination efforts to secure the Safer oil reservoir, organized by the supervisory committee for the implementation of the urgent maintenance agreement and the comprehensive assessment of the floating reservoir.
Conference attended by Deputy Chief of General Staff – Head of the national redeployment team, Major General Ali Al-Moshki, head of the Red Sea Ports Foundation, Captain Mohamed Isaac, Vice-Chairman of the national redeployment team, Major General Ali Al-Razmi, – Chief of Staff of the Naval Forces – Member of the Redeployment Committee Major General Mansour Al-Saadi, and the United Nations delegation’s team, to review steps and actions to save the Saffer ship from imminent disaster.
At the conference, the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee for the Implementation of the Maintenance Agreement, Zaid Ahmed Al-Washley, revealed the steps taken by the Committee in coordination with the United Nations to facilitate the accelerated rescue of the Safar reservoir before an environmental disaster in the Red Sea and Yemeni territorial waters.
He reviewed the situation in the deterioration of the reservoir and the procedures and remedies taken in 2014 before the start of the aggression against Yemen, namely the construction of land reservoirs. Approximately 30 per cent of the project was completed to replace the Safer floating reservoir.
Al-Washley explained that the project, which was then adopted by Safer as an ideal option to save the vessel from potential risks and threats, was interrupted and collapsed by the aggression against Yemen and the executing company’s departure from Yemen.
Among the exhortations that stood in front of Safer’s rescue, the Coalition of Aggression in 2016 prevented the Raman vessel from reaching the vicinity of Safer to unload 3,000 tons of Mazut for the operation of the main engines of the vessel.
The head of the supervisory committee for the Safer tanker file considered the prevention of unloading diesel fuel from the ship a fatal shot that caused the ship’s main engine to stop operating and its systems to go out of service, including the inert gas system.
He also disclosed an official document distributed to representatives of the local and external media, about a memorandum filed by the Deputy Executive Director of Safer Company appointed by the Government of Hotels appealing quickly to the Minister of Oil to intervene to address the coalition to allow the entry of the said Raman vessel to unload the mazot from Safer vessel.
Al-Washley pointed out that the aggression coalition deliberately, after these practices and steps, withdrew the crew of the Safer ship, which numbered 72 cadres, and reduced them to seven their efforts do not match the standards of the ship security manning process, which led to the rapid wear and tear of the ship, if the actual number of its insurance crew was available to work on the usual maintenance as a minimum.
In 2020, the Salvation Government had reached out to the United Nations to seek emergency intervention and work for genuine solutions, followed by the formation of the supervisory committee by the decision of the President of the Supreme Political Council, which had initiated coordination and signature efforts on the scope of work provided by the United Nations for the expeditious maintenance of the vessel.
He stated that the United Nations side had not implemented any treatments thereafter, as he expressed his position in a state of decline and disavowed the implementation of the agreed steps, stating that the maintenance and evaluation of the Safer reservoir remained in a semi-freezing state until a memorandum of understanding was signed with the United Nations in March 2022.
In contrast to the progress in coordination between the Committee and the United Nations, the Chairman of the Safer File Committee explained that several meetings had been held with the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, William David Gressly, and his team, and that the rescue of the ship had been initiated through fundraising to date, however, the Committee has not received the operational plan for the implementation of the Agreement.
“We are surprised by Resident Coordinator Gressly’s statement that a new alternative vessel was purchased for Safer without returning and coordinating with the committee and the rescue government to see the specifications of this vessel, but today we are optimistic that operational steps will be initiated to save the Red Sea from an imminent environmental disaster.”
Responding to journalists’ questions, the Chairman of the reservoir Safer File Committee reviewed the arrangements and procedures for the preservation of Yemen’s territorial waters and maritime environment and the safety of navigation for vessels transiting Yemeni waters in cooperation with the naval forces and the Yemeni Coast Guard.
He reaffirmed the need to ensure safety, accelerate procedures for the provision of safety tools and coordinate work between all the teams in charge, and develop a chronic operational plan whereby safe and logistical arrangements are made to ensure safe transportation and avoid any oil spills.
For their part, the United Nations team stressed that the visit was aimed at discussing perceptions of recommendations on avoiding any risks to the Safar reservoir in the event of a delay in its discharge and environmental and marine damage must be avoided.
They stressed that the purchase of a replacement oil tanker for the Safar reservoir was imperative in order to avoid potential risks, indicating that arrangements for the tanker’s arrival at the end of May were continuing to launch its services in a replacement for Safer’s rickety ship.
At the end of the conference, which was attended by the Director of Humanitarian Affairs in the governorate, Jaber Al-Razehi and the Port of Ras Issa Ibrahim Moqbel, and the Deputy Director of the Salif Port, Engineer Hussein Nasser, the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee for the Implementation of the Urgent Maintenance Agreement and the Comprehensive Assessment of the Safer Oil Floating Reservoir, Zaid Al-Washley, read a statement in which he held the countries of the aggression coalition responsible for what the Safer ship reached to, and the consequences of being the main reason for that.
The statement confirmed that the Government of Sana’a had implemented the necessary steps to facilitate and accelerate the rescue of the Safer vessel, noting that any damage or losses caused by the collapse of the land reservoir project were the responsibility of the aggression coalition.
Any agreements signed with any party outside the Sana’a Salvation Government had no final obligation to reiterate the request that the United Nations send and deliver the operational plan of the Supervisory Committee after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in March 2022 to enable it to carry out the comprehensive maintenance and evaluation of Safer Reservoir.
Following the press conference, the United Nations team of oil spill experts Nicholas Quinn, Colin Kevin and Joseph Small, together with the leadership of the Safer Committee and the relevant committees, briefed the land reservoirs project at the port of Ras Issa, which was interrupted by aggression.
Source: Yemen News Agency