Nautica arrives at port of Hodeida
Nautica, a replacement ship for Safer ship on Monday arrived at the port of Hodeida province, in preparation for starting unloading Safer cargo of oil in order to avoid any leakage or pollution in the waters of the Red Sea.
During the ship’s arrival, a press conference was held in presence of Minister of Transport Abdulwahhab al-Durra, Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Al-Ezzi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Yemeni News Agency Saba Nasr Al-Din Amer, First Undersecretary of Hodeida Ahmed al-Bishri, Head of the Red Sea Ports Corporation Capt. Mohammad Ishaq.
In the conference, which witnessed the signing of transferring the ownership of the replacement ship to Safer between Director of Safer Company Idris al-Shami and United Nations Resident Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen William David Gresley, the Minister of Transport praised the exerted efforts to reach the stage of saving the floating tank “Safer”.
Al-Durra considered the arrival of the replacement ship, to be called “Yemen”, an achievement that crowns the efforts of the National Salvation Government, which played an active role in fulfilling all its obligations to end Safer crisis, which lasted for many years and was accompanied by media misinformation by the aggression and its tools.
Minister al-Durra stated that work will begin on unloading crude oil from “Safer” reservoir during the next week, after completing the preparations and everything related to maritime security and safety standards, indicating that the process of transporting oil will take from two to three weeks.
He noted the role of the supervisory committee for “Safer” file and all relevant authorities in coordinating with the international side over the past years and following up on treatments up to this stage, to spare the regional waters in the Red Sea from the risks of pollution.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs appreciated the cooperation of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in providing the alternative ship in preparation for the start of unloading oil from the “Safer” ship and avoiding all threats regarding navigational activity and maritime safety.
Al-Ezzi stressed the Salvation Government’s keenness to provide all the necessary facilities to the United Nations team and the technical and engineering teams to enable them to accomplish their tasks of emptying the reservoir, after it carried out during the last period the assessment and risk examination work.
Director of the Safer Company considered the overall measures and steps that were taken to start the rescue missions to the floating tank, Safer, positive indicators to address the deterioration of the ship as a result of the arbitrary restrictions and procedures of aggression and to prevent its maintenance since 2015.
In turn, the United Nations Resident Coordinator appreciated the efforts and cooperation of the Salvation Government in facilitating and accelerating procedures and implementing commitments, indicating that the ship “Nautica”, which was purchased as a necessity to avoid threats, will launch work with its services in the coming days instead of “Safer” ship.
