YEMEN / FSO SAFER TANKER

STORY: YEMEN / FSO SAFER TANKER
TRT: 02:36
SOURCE: UNDP / Boskalis
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
LOCATION: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS

DATELINE: 25 JULY 2023 / RECENT


SHOTLIST:

HODEIDAH, YEMEN

1. Pan left, FSO Safer and tanker and the “Yemen” (formerly Nautica), one next to the other
2. Med shot, pipes connecting from ship to ship
3. Close up, pipes connecting from ship to ship
4. Pan left, from “Yemen” to FSO Safer, with crew person walking on board

NEW YORK CITY, USA

5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The operation that is now underway is a story of cooperation, prevention, political mediation, ingenuity and environmental management – demonstrating once again the indispensable role of the United Nations with our partners. We need to keep working together over this next critical period to defuse what remains a ticking time bomb and avoid what would be by far the worst oil spill of our era.”

HODEIDAH, YEMEN

6. Med shot, bridge of the FSO Safer with name sign
7. Med shot, lift taking crew persons up aboard the SFO Safer
8. Med shot, crew connecting pipes on the FSO Safer
9. Med shot, crew boarding FSO Safer
10. Various shots, pipes
11. Various shots, crew with gas masks working on pipes

TOKYO, JAPAN

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Program (UNDP): “The beginning of the ship-to-ship transfer operation is a huge achievement for the many people across the UN system and also beyond because of so many who have worked tirelessly on this complex and difficult project over months and some would say years to bring us to this point.

HODEIDAH, YEMEN

13. Various shots, boats approaching the SFO Safer
14. Areal shot, crew person walking on deck next to pipes

HODEIDAH, YEMEN

15. SOUNDBITE (English) David Gressly, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen:
“It’s a day that will be celebrated across Yemen by all people in Yemen, that this threat that the FSO Safer represented with the 1 million plus barrels of oil on board will no longer be a threat to the shores and the ports of Yemen and surrounding countries.”
16. Pan right, the two oil tankers, moored one next to the other


STORYLINE:

The UN-led project to prevent a massive oil spill from the FSO Safer supertanker off Yemen’s Red Sea coast began early morning Tuesday. It is aimed to remove more than 1 million barrels of oil from the decaying vessel.

The Safer has been at risk of breaking up or exploding for years. A major spill from the vessel would result in an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.

The oil aboard the Safer is being pumped into the replacement vessel Yemen (formerly Nautica) in a ship-to-ship transfer that is expected to take 19 days to complete. After its arrival at the site on 30 May, the leading marine salvage company SMIT, a subsidiary of Boskalis, has stabilized the 47-year-old Safer. The UN Development Programme (UNDP), which contracted SMIT, is implementing the operation to remove the oil.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “The operation that is now underway is a story of cooperation, prevention, political mediation, ingenuity and environmental management – demonstrating once again the indispensable role of the United Nations with our partners. We need to keep working together over this next critical period to defuse what remains a ticking time bomb and avoid what would be by far the worst oil spill of our era.”