A press conference at Ras Isa Port on developments related to securing the Safer oil reservoir

Wednesday 10/27/1444 AH, 5/17/2023 AD, a press conference was held in the port of Ras Isa in Al Hodeidah Governorate 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 tank.

The conference, which was attended by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff – Head of the National Team for Redeployment Major General Ali Al-Moshki, Head of the Red Sea Ports Corporation, Captain Muhammad Ishaq, Deputy Head of the National Team for Redeployment Major General Ali Al-Razmi, and Chief of Staff of the Navy – Member of the Redeployment Committee Major General Mansour Al-Saadi and a delegation team focused on The United Nations, to review the steps and procedures to save the Safer ship from an imminent disaster.

At the conference, the head of the supervisory committee for the implementation of the maintenance agreement, Zaid Ahmed Al-Washli, revealed the steps taken by the committee in coordination with the United Nations to facilitate the acceleration of saving the Safer reservoir before an environmental disaster occurred in the Red Sea and Yemeni territorial waters.

He reviewed the situation in the deterioration of the reservoir and the procedures and remedies that were taken in 2014 before the start of the aggression on Yemen, represented by a project to build land reservoirs. Approximately 30 percent of the project has been completed as a substitute for the floating Safer reservoir.

Al-Washli explained that the project, which the Safer company adopted at the time as an ideal option to save the ship from potential risks and threats, was halted and collapsed due to the aggression on Yemen and the executing company’s departure from Yemen.

He stated that among the signs that stood before the rescue of the Safer ship, the aggression coalition prevented the Raman ship in 2016 from reaching the vicinity of the Safer ship to unload three thousand tons of diesel fuel for operating the main engines of the ship.

 

The head of the supervisory committee for the Safer tank file considered preventing the unloading of diesel fuel to the Safer ship as 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 revealed an official document that was distributed to representatives of the local and foreign media, about what was submitted of a memorandum by the Deputy Executive Director of the Safer Company, appointed in the hotel government, in which he appeals to the Minister of Oil to intervene quickly to address the coalition to allow the entry of the aforementioned Raman ship to unload diesel fuel for the Safer ship.

Al-Washli 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. regular minimum.

He stressed that the Salvation Government contacted the United Nations in 2020 AD, to request emergency intervention and work to find real solutions, followed by the formation of the supervisory committee by the decision of the President of the Supreme Political Council, which initiated coordination and signing efforts on the scope of work submitted by the United Nations for the urgent maintenance of the ship.

He stated that the UN side did not implement any treatments after that, as its position appeared to be in a state of retreat and evasion from implementing the agreed steps, indicating that the file for maintenance and evaluation of the Safer tank remained in a semi-frozen state until a memorandum of understanding was signed with the United Nations in March 2022.

In contrast to the progress witnessed in the aspects of coordination between the committee and the United Nations, the head of the Safer file committee explained that several meetings were held with the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, William David Gresley, and his team, and the process of saving the ship was initiated by collecting donations, but the committee did not Up to this point, it receives the operational plan for the implementation of the agreement.

He said, “We were surprised by the statements of the Resident Coordinator Gresley, that a new ship was purchased as an alternative to the Safer without consulting and coordinating with the Committee and the Salvation Government to see the specifications of this ship, but today we feel optimistic about starting implementation steps to save the Red Sea from an imminent environmental disaster.”

In response to journalists’ questions, the head of the Safer Reservoir File Committee reviewed the arrangements and procedures for preserving Yemeni territorial waters and the marine environment, as well as the security and safety of navigation for ships transiting Yemeni waters in cooperation with the Navy and the Yemeni Coast Guard.

He reaffirmed the concern for safety and expediting the procedures for providing safety tools, coordinating work between all assigned teams, and developing a chronic operational plan in the light of which safe and logistical arrangements are prepared to ensure safe transportation and avoid any leakage or oil spill.

For their part, the United Nations team confirmed that the visit aims to discuss perceptions to come up with recommendations on avoiding any risks of the Safer reservoir in the event of delaying its emptying and the resulting environmental and marine damage that must be avoided.

They emphasized that purchasing a replacement oil tanker for the Safer tanker is an inevitable necessity to avoid potential risks, pointing out that arrangements are continuing for the tanker to arrive at the end of May to launch its services as a substitute for the dilapidated Safer ship.

At the conclusion of the conference, which was attended by the Director of Ras Issa Port, Ibrahim Muqbel, and the Deputy Director of the Salif Port, Eng. Hussein Nasser, the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee for the Implementation of the Urgent Maintenance Agreement and the Comprehensive Evaluation of the Safer Oil Floating Tank, Zaid Al-Washli, read a statement in which he held the countries of the aggression coalition responsible for what the Safer ship had reached and the consequences. It should be the main reason for that.

The statement confirmed that the Sana’a government had implemented the necessary steps to facilitate and expedite the rescue of the Safer ship, pointing out that any damage or loss as a result of the collapse of the land reservoirs project is the responsibility of the aggression coalition.

And he indicated that any agreements signed with any party outside the Salvation Government in Sana’a are not completely binding on it, again asking the United Nations to send and hand over the operational plan to the supervisory committee after signing the memorandum of understanding in March 2022 AD so that it can carry out maintenance and comprehensive evaluation of the Safer reservoir.

After the press conference, the United Nations team consisting of communication and liaison advisor at the United Nations Development Program Office, Russell Geek, oil spill experts Nicholas Quinn, Colin Kevin, and Joseph Small, along with the leadership of the Safer Committee and the concerned committees, was briefed on the land reservoirs project in Ras Issa port, whose implementation was halted due to the aggression