The United Nations stated the transfer of one-third of the oil from the tanker Safer, bringing the first phase of the operation to an end.

In a tweet, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrator Achim Steiner revealed that 360,000 barrels of oil had been pumped from the tanker to a replacement tanker, reducing the risk of an oil spill by almost a third.

The decaying ship moored off the coast of Yemen, north of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, has posed a serious environmental and humanitarian risk.

In response to this environmental crisis, UNDP has inked an agreement with international shipping company Euronav to secure a replacement vessel to remove the oil onboard the tanker.