UN Starts Safer Supertanker Operation

The United Nations (UN) announced late Tuesday that it has started a “challenging” operation to remove more than one million barrels of oil from the FSO Safer supertanker.

In a statement sent to Rigzone, the UN noted that the salvage support vessel Ndeavor - which is operated by SMIT, a subsidiary of Boskalis, and contracted by the UN Development Program (UNDP) to undertake the transfer of the oil to another vessel - arrived onsite yesterday. The UN described the development as a “critical step forward in the operation”.

The Ndeavor crew will inspect the Safer and undertake all necessary work to make it secure for the transfer of oil to the replacement tanker Nautica, the UN outlined, adding that Nautica is standing by in Djibouti to travel to the site next month and receive the oil.

The UN said in the statement that the start of the operation on the water comes after almost two years of political groundwork, fundraising, and project development, led by UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly.

“Today [Tuesday] marks a critical step in the operation to remove the threat posed by the FSO Safer,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said in an organization statement.

“With the marine salvage support vessel Ndeavor onsite, the project can now begin in earnest. This marks the culmination of tremendous amounts of work and coordination among UN agencies, maritime lawyers, oil spill experts, and many more,” he added.

“This is a proud moment for the United Nations and for the UN Development Program as the implementing partner for the emergency phase of the project to remove the oil. It is also a clear sign of what multilateral cooperation can achieve, and a prime example of the importance of prevention,” he continued.

In its statement, the UN warned that the project remains underfunded, highlighting that $29 million is still needed, including to safely moor the replacement vessel to a catenary anchor leg mooring buoy and to tow the Safer to a green recycling yard.

“We call again upon the international community and private sector to step up and support us to close the funding gap on the project so that we can finish what we have started,” Steiner said.

Commenting on the project, Gressly said “member states, private companies, and the general public have contributed $114 million to stop the Red Sea Spill” and highlighted “so many other partners that have contributed expertise and advocated for this critical operation”.

“I thank them all and want to recognize SMIT Salvage and the Fahem Group for presenting an initiative in 2021 that became the basis of the project being implemented today [Tuesday],” he added.

“This is a great milestone, but we will not rest easy until the operation is completed. To do that we are counting on generous donors to close the remaining $29 million budget gap,” Gressly continued.

In a statement posted on his Twitter page, Gressly said he was “excited to be at the site of the FSO Safer aboard the Ndeavor with the Boskalis/SMIT team”.

“After two years of political groundwork, fundraising and UNDP project development, the operation on the water is set to begin,” he added.

Excited to be at the site of the #FSOSafer aboard the Ndeavor with the Boskalis/SMIT team. After 2 years of political groundwork, fundraising and UNDP project development, the operation on the water is set to begin! #StopRedSeaSpill pic.twitter.com/uB0GYTufPw

— David Gressly (@DavidGressly) May 30, 2023

According to a dedicated FSO Safer section of the UN website, the organization has a crowdfunding goal related to the operation of $500,000. As of April 21, 51 percent of that goal had been reached, the site highlighted.

Boskalis announced recently that, through its subsidiary SMIT Salvage, it had reached an agreement with the UNDP for oil removal from the FSO Safer. In a statement posted on its site back in March, Euronav NV announced that it had signed an agreement with the UN to sell a VLCC as part of a wider salvage operation for the FSO Safer. The company outlined in the statement that it would provide a “suitable vessel” that would go to drydock for “necessary modifications” and regular maintenance before sailing to the FSO.

In December 2021, UN senior management endorsed a plan to prevent a spill at the FSO by transferring oil to another vessel and installing long-term replacement capacity, and asked UNDP to implement it, contingent on funding, the UN’s latest statement highlighted. In that statement, the UN thanked the following donors for their “generous support”:

Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the U.S., the Yemen Humanitarian Fund, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Hayel Saeed Anam & Co., the HSA Group, the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP), Octavia Energy/Calvalley Petroleum, and the Trafigura Foundation.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com