By: Ahmed Abdu-Almalik Al-Ansi, Yemeni journalist and translator.
The Nutica vessel has arrived at the submersible Port of Al-Hudaydah today, July 17, 2023, in preparation for the start of the discharge of the latter cargo of oil in order to avoid any leakage or water contamination of the Red Sea.
During the ship’s arrival, a press conference was held in the presence of Transport Minister Abdulwahab Al-Durra, Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Al-Izzi, Chairman of Yemen News Agency Saba Nasruddin Amer, the first agent of Al-Hudaydah governorate Ahmed Al-Bishri, the Headman of the Red Sea Ports Foundation, Captain Mohamed Isaac, the Governor of the Province, Mohammed Halisi, and a number of other leaders, foreign media delegations, and local and foreign correspondents.
During the conference, which saw the signing of the transfer of the replacement ship Safer between the director of Safer, Idris Al Shami, and the United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, William David Grissley, the Transport Secretary praised the efforts made to reach the Safer” rescue phase.
Nutica’s arrival of the planned replacement vessel that will be named “Yemen” was seen as an achievement culminating in the efforts of the Government of National Rescue, which has played an active role in fulfilling its full commitments to end the years-long crisis of Safer, accompanied by media misinformation by the aggression and their mercenaries.
Today, the ship was transferred to the Republic of Yemen, represented by Safer, and the transfer of the raw materials in the Safer floating tank to the replacement vessel began,” he said, announcing the transfer and official reception of the ship.
In order to prevent a recurrence of the issue with the floating oil reservoir protections, the minister of transportation emphasized the importance of routine maintenance for this vessel.
According to Minister Al-Durra, after the necessary equipment and maritime security and safety standards have been met, work on the discharge of crude oil from the Safar reservoir will begin within the coming week. It will take two to three weeks to transfer the oil.
He emphasized the participation of the Safar Supervisory Committee and all pertinent organizations in working with the UN side over the course of the previous years and monitoring the effectiveness of treatments up to this point in order to reduce the risk of Red Sea territorial waters contamination.
To prepare for the beginning of the oil offloading from the Safar vessel and the avoidance of any threats to navigational activity and maritime safety, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs worked in conjunction with the United Nations Resident Coordinator to provide the replacement vessel.
He emphasized that the Government of Salvation wanted to make sure that the United Nations team and technical and engineering teams had access to all of the facilities they needed to finish their work of discharging the reservoir after doing risk assessment and screening work previously.
The replacement vessel’s arrival, according to the deputy minister for foreign affairs al-Izzi, was a significant step, but it only “postpones the disaster, and we are not yet radically resolved,” and he urged the international community to keep working to find a radical solution to the floating reservoir problem or, at the very least, to ensure sustainable maintenance during the war.
Overall, the Safer Company Director saw the actions and steps taken to begin the task of rescuing the Safer floating reservoir as signs of progress in addressing the ship’s deterioration as a result of restrictions and arbitrary acts of aggression that have prevented its maintenance since 2015.
Al Shami declared: “Today we are launching the essential step to eliminate the environmental threat to marine life, fishing, and navigation traffic in the region as a whole.” He then signed the receipt and transfer of ownership of the new vessel.
In response, the UN Resident Coordinator expressed gratitude for the Salvation Government’s efforts and cooperation in facilitating and speeding actions and carrying out promises. The Safar will not be launched in the next few days, but the Nutica, which was acquired as a requirement to avert threats, will.
He stated that an environmental issue that was almost closing the ports of Hodeidah and Salif, which served more than 17 million Yemenis with humanitarian aid, was being avoided with the delivery of the replacement vessel to Safer.
