CAIRO (AP) — The transfer of 1.1 million barrels of oil from an aging tanker moored off the coast of war-torn Yemen has been completed, avoiding an environmental disaster, the United Nations said.
An international team began siphoning the oil from the dilapidated vessel known as SOF Safer on July 25. All of the oil is now aboard a replacement tanker called Nautica.
For years, international organizations and rights groups have warned of a potential spill or even an explosion from the tanker, which has not been maintained for years and has seawater in its engine compartment and damaged pipes.
It is moored 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from Yemen’s western Red Sea ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa, a strategic area controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who are at war with the internationally recognized government.
