It is an impending disaster that looms large over any talk of peace in Yemen, humanitarian efforts and ecological concerns.

The Safer oil tanker has been moored in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, near the Ras Isa oil terminal, for more than five years.

The vessel is a floating storage and offloading (FSO) terminal that was used as an offshore platform for ships loading crude oil from the Marib-Ras Isa pipeline.

It is owned by Yemen’s national oil company, the Safer Exploration & Production Operation Company, but fell into the hands of the Houthis in 2015, early in the Yemeni civil war. Since then, no maintenance work has been carried out on the aging tanker.

When Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan announced on March 22 a new initiative to bring peace to Yemen, Arab News asked him what could be done to defuse this ticking time bomb.

“We are extremely concerned about the Houthis continuing to put up obstacles to the UN doing what it needs to do to safeguard this oil tanker that threatens a true ecological disaster of unprecedented scale in the Red Sea,” Prince Faisal replied.

It is something that is extremely concerning. It’s very, very disheartening that the Houthis are using the environment and the livelihoods of hundreds, if not thousands, of fishermen as a bargaining tool.

“And, therefore, we call on the international community to do all it can to ensure that this situation is addressed forthwith, (so) that this issue is not used by the Houthis to blackmail the international community.”