UN: Operation to siphon oil out of rusting tanker moored off Yemen

An international team began siphoning oil out of a decrepit oil tanker off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday, the United Nations chief said, a crucial step in a complex salvage operation aiming to prevent a potential environmental disaster.
For years, many organizations have warned that the neglected vessel, known as SOF Safer, may cause a major oil spill or even explode.
“The ship-to-ship transfer of oil which has started today is the critical next step in avoiding an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe on a colossal scale,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
More than 1.1 million barrels of oil stored in the rusting tanker were being moved to another vessel the U.N. purchased.
The oil transfer operation came after months of on-site preparatory work and was scheduled to be completed in less than three weeks.