The head of the United Nations Organization welcomed the news while reaffirming the organization’s commitment to successfully complete this project in an issued statement.

The operation included emptying the 1.14 million barrels of oil from the ship stranded off the coast of Yemen since 1988 and at risk of breakdown due to lack of maintenance since 2015.

In this regard, Guterres announced the support of the UN through the delivery of a specialized buoy to which the replacement ship will be safely moored.

The objective of this transfer was to “save the waters, coasts and beaches of Yemen and the countries of the region from an imminent environmental disaster”, since an oil spill could affect the entire Red Sea ecosystem and millions of people, according to Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak.

The oil spill would affect more than 17 million people and its cleanup would cost an estimated 20 billion dollars, according to estimates by the United Nations Development Program.

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