UN says $144 million needed to avert Yemen tanker disaster

By SAMY MAGDY
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations is seeking $144 million needed to fund the salvage operation of a decaying tanker full of oil moored off the coast of Yemen. The ship’s demise could cause an environmental disaster. David Gressly, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, says the amount includes $80 million to transfer the more than 1 million barrels of crude oil the FSO Safer is carrying to storage. Wednesday’s pledging conference, co-hosed by the U.N. and the Netherlands, comes more than two months after the U.N. and Yemen’s Houthi rebels reached an agreement to transfer the tanker’s contents to another vessel.