Scientist Warns That a Huge Tanker Is Probably Going to Spill a Million Barrels of Oil Into the Ocean

A scientist is sounding the alarm on a massive oil tanker that he says will likely spill roughly 40 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean.

A senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution wrote a piece for CNN about a decaying oil tanker anchored off the coast of Yemen. The ship has been there since March of 2015, when the port city of Al-Hudaydah was seized by a militant group.

The tanker is filled with more than a million barrels of crude oil, which makes it a major cause of concern for scientists worried that any accident involving the Safer could result in it spilling into the ocean.

If there was an issue with the tanker, it would be worse than the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 that resulted in hundreds of miles of Alaskan coastline getting covered in crude oil. Safer carries four times the amount of oil as the Valdez.

In addition to the harm caused to aquatic life, many of its worst impacts would affect people.

He said a spill would ruin the region's fisheries, which rely on them for food. Toxic fumes could cause illness for thousands.

That is not the worst of it according to the scientist.

Perhaps most ominously, the vessel is at risk of sparking into a waterborne fireball that could erupt with massive explosive force, wreaking even more potential ecological devastation.

The leader of the Houthi rebels agreed to allow Safer to transfer his oil barrels to another vessel. The United Nations needs to pull together resources to make it happen.

It is important that the UN move on this quickly. The FSO Trinity Spirit exploded and sank off the coast of Nigeria in February.

Hopefully, the UN can remove the oil quickly. It might help alleviate the price at the pump too.

An aging oil tanker has become a floating time bomb. It is an environmental disaster waiting to happen.

There are oil spills off the coast of Africa.

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