The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office urged the Houthi militia to allow UN inspectors access to an unattended tanker and remove the oil it contains on Thursday.
FSO Safer has been moored 7 km off the coast of Yemen since 1988 and fell into the hands of the Houthis in March 2015, said an Arab News report.
The UK department said in a tweet that the 1.14 million barrels of oil onboard could leak into the Red Sea “if nothing is done” and that the tanker is an “environmental disaster waiting to happen.”
The Houthis have prevented international engineers from boarding FSO Safer to carry out essential repairs.
There are fears that the oil it contains will start to seep out as the vessel’s condition deteriorates.
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