SANAA (Debriefer)--There are positive understandings between the Sanaa-based salvation government and the United Nations on the issue of the stranded Safer tanker, Houthi deputy foreign minister Hussein Al-Ezzi said on Sunday.
The salvation government is looking forward to the arrival of the international experts tasked with accessing the tanker and assessing its condition, he said, hoping that they will not be late this time.
The tanker has had no maintenance since the civil war broke out six years ago. It is moored off Yemen's western coast, with more than 1.1 million barrels of crude on board.
Its equipment and systems are deteriorating, leaving it at the risk of sinking, exploding or causing a major oil spill.
Most recently, reports warned of the possibility that it could strike a naval mine in the Red Sea after satellite images showed it was moving anticlockwise.
Earlier, reports said seawater was seeping into its engine compartment.
Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, urged in June to take immediate action regarding the tanker to prevent a looming environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe.
