The SAFER Exploration & Production Operations Company (SEPOC), which owns the derelict Safer oil tanker that is anchored off Hodeidah’s coastline, confirmed the need to discharge the oil on board the rundown vessel before an environmental catastrophe takes place. Safer holds around 1.1 million oil barrels on board. A top SEPOC official, in exclusive statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, said that the talk on UN experts assessing Safer and performing maintenance work has taken a wrong course which ignores facts. Speaking under the condition of anonymity, the official stressed that the right track for dealing with the potential catastrophe at hand is for the UN to pressure warring parties in Yemen to agree on a quota for emptying the tanker from oil. “We are against maintenance before discharging the load on board Safer,” the official told Asharq Al-Awsat. “If the oil is emptied, we will breathe a sigh of relief and the danger that hangs over us all will disappear,” they added, explaining that an empty tanker must be brought in to empty Safer and carry its oil. The UN had confirmed that any oil spill at Safer may destroy 500 square kilometers of agricultural land used by about 3 million Yemeni farmers. Apart from also potentially destroying 8,000 water wells, the spill may cause a spike in air pollutants that affect more than 8 million people. Potential impacts will also include the closure of the Hodeidah and Salif ports for a period of up to 6 months. This could seriously affect Yemens ability to import 90% of food, basic aid and commercial goods it needs. Houthi militias, who currently control access to Safer, had conditioned their granting of access to the decaying tanker with keeping the oil for themselves. According to well-informed Yemeni sources, the Iran-backed militia is seeking to use the oil as a pressure card to blackmail the international community.