RIYADH: Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra discussed international efforts to salvage the decaying oil tanker FSO Safer off the coast of Yemen to prevent an environmental disaster that could arise due to the absurd practices of the terrorist Houthi militia, the Saudi Press Agency reported early Tuesday.
In a phone call, the pair also discussed enhancing bilateral relations and cooperation to serve the two nations’ interest.
The United Nations announced on May 11 that it is seeking $144 million needed to fund the salvage operation of the tanker moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
The amount includes $80 million to transfer the more than 1 million barrels of crude oil the FSO Safer is carrying to storage, said David Gressly, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.
The pledging conference, co-hosed by the UN and The Netherlands, comes more than two months after the UN and Yemen’s Houthi militia reached an agreement to transfer the tanker’s contents to another vessel.
