UN Effort Aims to Remove Oil from Tanker in the Red Sea
2023-08-01
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1An international team is working to remove oil from a ship anchored in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.
2The oil tanker, called the SOF Safer, has not been used for at least eight years.
3It contains over 1 million barrels of oil.
4Experts say the ship is at risk of breaking up or exploding.
5The Associated Press reported in 2020 that seawater entered the ship's engine room and caused damage.
6The water also put the ship in danger of sinking.
7For years, the United Nations and governments of nearby countries warned that an explosion or oil leak could disrupt shipping in the Middle East.
8The ship is close to the Yemeni ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa.
9Many ships travel from the Persian Gulf, past Yemen and through Egypt's Suez Canal to get to the Mediterranean Sea.
10The United Nations purchased another oil tanker so crews could move the oil from the Safer.
11Antonio Guterres is the UN Secretary General.
12In a statement, he said the work is a "critical next step in avoiding an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe."
13The U.N. said the job will be done in less than three weeks.
14The Safer was built in the 1970s and sold to the Yemeni government in the 1980s so it could move oil pumped from the fields in Marib.
15The U.N. said a leak could have been worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, one of the largest ecological disasters.
16When the oil is removed, the work will not be over, however.
17The Safer will be anchored to an underwater oil pipeline before it is taken away to a scrapyard.
18David Gressly is the U.N. humanitarian official for Yemen.
19He said moving the oil will prevent a "worst-case scenario."
20Guterres said, cleaning up an oil spill in Yemen could have cost "tens of billions of dollars."
21I'm Dan Friedell.
1An international team is working to remove oil from a ship anchored in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. 2The oil tanker, called the SOF Safer, has not been used for at least eight years. It contains over 1 million barrels of oil. 3Experts say the ship is at risk of breaking up or exploding. 4The Associated Press reported in 2020 that seawater entered the ship's engine room and caused damage. The water also put the ship in danger of sinking. 5For years, the United Nations and governments of nearby countries warned that an explosion or oil leak could disrupt shipping in the Middle East. The ship is close to the Yemeni ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa. Many ships travel from the Persian Gulf, past Yemen and through Egypt's Suez Canal to get to the Mediterranean Sea. 6The United Nations purchased another oil tanker so crews could move the oil from the Safer. 7Antonio Guterres is the UN Secretary General. In a statement, he said the work is a "critical next step in avoiding an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe." 8The U.N. said the job will be done in less than three weeks. 9The Safer was built in the 1970s and sold to the Yemeni government in the 1980s so it could move oil pumped from the fields in Marib. 10The U.N. said a leak could have been worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, one of the largest ecological disasters. 11When the oil is removed, the work will not be over, however. The Safer will be anchored to an underwater oil pipeline before it is taken away to a scrapyard. 12David Gressly is the U.N. humanitarian official for Yemen. He said moving the oil will prevent a "worst-case scenario." Guterres said, cleaning up an oil spill in Yemen could have cost "tens of billions of dollars." 13I'm Dan Friedell. 14Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 15__________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17anchor -v. to connect a boat to something very heavy that rests on the ocean floor so it does not move 18disrupt -v. to change from the usual order of business in a big way 19critical -adj. extremely important 20catastrophe -n. a very bad accident 21ecological -adj. having to do with the environment and nature 22scrapyard -n. a place where vehicles and machines are taken apart and the parts are broken down into basic materials 23scenario -n. a situation that might happen but that has not become reality 24___________________________________________________ 25We want to hear from you. Do you think the U.N. can do the rest of the job safely? 26Here is how our comment system works: 27Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.