A rusting oil tanker in the Red Sea is set to trigger one of the worst environmental disasters in history, scientists have warned. 

The vessel stranded off Yemen is loaded with more than a million barrels – and could break apart at any moment. This is four times the amount spilled by Exxon Valdez in Alaska more than three decades ago – which is still polluting the US coastline today. 

Ironically called the Safer, the tanker is a floating storage and offloading unit abandoned for years – and with access controlled by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Lead author Professor Karine Kleinhaus, a marine expert at Stony Brook University in New York, said: ‘The time is now to prevent a potential devastation to the region’s waters and the livelihoods and health of millions of people living in half a dozen countries along the Red Sea’s coast. 

‘If a spill from the Safer is allowed to occur, the oil would spread via ocean currents to devastate a global ocean resource, as the corals of the northern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba are projected to be among the last reef ecosystems in the world to survive the coming decades.’

They survive in much warmer waters than today’s ocean temperatures – which are becoming too high for most coral to tolerate. 

Over half of the Great Barrier Reef has degraded due to marine heat waves caused by climate change. Prof Kleinhaus and colleagues are calling for action to remove the abandoned tanker before it’s too late. 

Last month the Houthis agreed to let a United Nations team board the Safer to inspect and repair the vessel in the near future.

It has had virtually no maintenance since the start of Yemen’s devastating civil war five years ago. The 45-year-old tanker is anchored about 37 miles north of the rebel-held port of Hudaydah. 

Water recently entered its engine room – increasing the risk the vessel would sink or explode. The reefs off Yemen in the southern Red Sea are highly diverse and rich. The fish are a major resource of food for the populations of the region. Dr Kleinhaus and colleagues said oil spots have been reported next to the tanker – indicating likely seepage.

It has been abandoned since 2015. This is a long advance warning of a decaying tanker poised to degrade to the point of a mass oil leak into the Red Sea.