What are oil spills?
Huge amounts of oil are carried from one place to another through large ships called tankers. Sometimes an accident can cause oil to fall into the ocean. This is called an oil spill. These spills harm sea life and sea animals. It is also very costly to clean up an oil spill.
The story of the FSO Safer.
The FSO Safer is one of the biggest oil tankers in the world. It holds a lot of oil. It sits on the seashore of Yemen, a country in the Middle East. This ship never moves and is used to store oil.
The Safer was built 45 years ago. It’s quite old! Since 2005, the Safer has been left alone. Nobody takes care of it, and now it is in bad shape. In fact, it could explode at any time.
Why has Yemen forgotten its tanker?
This tanker hasn’t been forgotten. It is disputed. Since 2015, there has been a war in Yemen, between people in power and those who want to be in power. These two sides are fighting over control of the FSO Safer, and who gets the oil in it.
What does this mean for the people of Yemen?
The people of Yemen are going through a bad time. They don’t have enough food or medicine. Other countries send these to them.
If the Safer ever exploded, the oil spill would block the main seaport. This would make it harder for other countries to send help to Yemen.
How can we solve this?
The United Nations (UN) has come up with a plan. They will move the oil from the Safer to a new oil tanker. The Safer will then be safely taken apart. This must be done soon before the tanker leaks oil into the ocean.
Why is this in the news now?
On 11th May 2022, the UN decided to collect funds for this plan. The UN is like a peace club for the countries in the world. They have collected $40 billion to begin their mission. We hope this effort to save the ocean works! We'd rather not read about this in a history book!
