蜜芽传媒

A new report suggests a decaying super-tanker, abandoned in the Red Sea since 2017 because of Yemen's war, could leak enough oil to leave nearly 10 million people without drinking water, and 8 million without food - as well as wiping out the country's fishing stocks, and affecting global shipping.

The FSO Safer contains more than a million barrels of oil - four times as much as the Exxon Valdez, the ship responsible for the most notorious spill in history.

Now a report - published in Nature Magazine - has modelled what would happen if or when the 45-year-old vessel finally breaks apart. Researchers say the impact would be felt in countries including Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Djibouti.

Benjamin Huynh, from the Department of Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University School of Medicine, says the hull will eventually split open if preventative measures aren't taken first.

"Honestly the only effective long-term solution is to get the oil off the boat. This should be something that's very simple... The issue here is because there's an ongoing war and blockade in Yemen it's very difficult to have negotiations in good faith and have trust between parties to get this oil off the boat."

(Photo: Satellite image of the FSO Safer tanker. Credit: Maxar Technologies)

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