Thursday, June 01, 2023

GEOLOGY/GEMOLOGY

Petra Diamonds sells half its stake in Williamson mine
Cecilia Jamasmie | May 31, 2023 |

Williamson open pit mine in Tanzania. (Image courtesy of Petra Diamonds | Twitter Feed.)

Petra Diamonds (LON: PDL) said on Wednesday it had inked a definitive deal to sell 50% of its stake in the Williamson diamond mine in Tanzania to local technical services contractor Taifa Mining for $15 million.

The transaction, the diamonds miner said, includes the sale of prorated portion of shareholder loans that its 75%-owned local unit Williamson Diamonds Limited (WDL) owes Taifa for past technical services.

Petra anticipates it will receive the funds in installments over the next five years, after the transaction closes, expected by the end of 2023.

WDL, the operator of the Williamson mine, is currently 25% owned by Tanzania and 75% by Petra, which acquired its majority interest in the operation in 2009.

Petra entered into a framework agreement with the country’s government in December 2021. It was agreed at the time that the miner’s effective interest in WDL would decrease to 63%, boosting Tanzania’s share to 37%.

Upon completion of the transaction Petra and Pink Diamonds, a company affiliated to Taifa, will each indirectly hold a 31.5% interest in WDL, with Petra retaining a controlling interest.

“This new structure will reduce our equity interest in Williamson whilst retaining control and maintaining a share of the upside,” Petra Diamonds chief executive Richard Duffy said in the statement.

“Williamson holds a unique place in the sector with its significant resource base and ability to produce high quality pink diamonds. In a supply constrained sector, this asset has the potential to become increasingly valuable,” Duffy said

A 16.39-carat pink diamond recovered at Williamson in 2014.

(Image courtesy of Petra Diamonds.)

BMO analyst Raj Ray said the move is a good one for Petra, given that the bank currently values Williamson at negative $4 million. “Over five years we see it as incrementally positive compared to our estimate,” he said.

The Williamson diamond mine holds the world’s largest kimberlite deposit surface area, with reserves and resources of 37.7 million carats as of 30 June 2022.

In November last year, Petra Diamonds halted operations following the partial collapse of the mine’s tailings storage facility (TSF). The company expects to reopen Williamson in August this year.

The operation has been active since 1940, and it is located in Shinyanga, one of Tanzania’s poorest regions. It produced a 54.5-carat pink diamond presented to UK Queen Elizabeth II for her wedding in 1947.

Glencore plans $1.5 billion investment to expand Antapaccay copper mine in Peru
Reuters | May 31, 2023 |

Antapaccay copper mine in Peru. (Photo: Glencore)

Mining giant Glencore Plc plans to invest $1.5 billion on an expansion project at its Antapaccay mine in Peru, up from $590 million announced previously, a company executive said, in a bid to unlock the stalled plan key to maintaining copper output.

Carlos Cotera, general manager of Antapaccay Mining Co, told Reuters the Glencore unit was pushing forward the “Coroccohuayco” project, which aims to extend the mine’s lifespan by decades. In recent years, production has been stalled as the quality of ore grades declined.

“The Coroccohuayco project means expanding the life of the mine until at least 2045 or 2050, that’s our forecast,” Cotera said on Monday evening on the sidelines of a mining forum in Lima. “We estimate the investment will exceed $1.5 billion.”

The electric car revolution has sharply boosted forecasts for global copper demand in the coming years with many analysts expecting a supply deficit after production and investment has slowed in key regions. Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer, with neighbor Chile No. 1.

Cotera said annual production at Antapaccay, one of Peru’s largest copper mines, has fallen steadily from 221,000 tonnes in 2016 to around 150,000 tonnes now, making the expansion project important.

“We are confident that for at least the first 10 years of Coroccohuayco’s operation copper production will be around 250,000 tonnes of copper per year,” Cotera said.

The project has been delayed by social unrest in the province where the mine is located. In September 2022, residents of Espinar opposing the expansion project blocked part of an Andes mining corridor for a few days.

Antapaccay said at that time the plan was “under review.” The corridor was also blocked during recent unrest following former President Pedro Castillo’s ouster.

Cotera said the firm is now examining Coroccohuayco’s “pre-feasibility study” and expects approval in the second half of 2024 before moving to a full feasibility study.

(By Marco Aquino and Alexander Villegas; Editing by Adam Jourdan and David Gregorio)

Renewable energy capacity to hit record growth in 2023 – IEA

Cecilia Jamasmie | June 1, 2023 |

Solar photovoltaic plants are growing while higher electricity prices are driving growth in small-scale rooftop system. (Stock image)

Renewable power capacity will grow by a record number this year as as stronger government policies around fossil fuels and energy security concerns drive more clean energy deployment, the International Energy Agency said Thursday.

Global additions of renewable power capacity are expected to jump by 107 gigawatts (GW), the largest absolute increase ever, to more than 440 GW in 2023. The figure represents about a third more than the world added the previous year, the agency said.

Total global renewable electricity capacity over the next year is expected to rise to 4,500 GW, equivalent to the total power output of China and the US combined.

In its Renewable Energy Market Update, the IEA says that about two-thirds of this year’s increase in renewable power capacity will come from photovoltaic, with both large-scale solar farms and consumer rooftop installations seeing significant growth.

“Solar and wind are leading the rapid expansion of the new global energy economy,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.

“This year, the world is set to add a record-breaking amount of renewables to electricity systems – more than the total power capacity of Germany and Spain combined,” Birol noted

Courtesy of IEA, June 2023 (click on graphic to enlarge)

The jump in renewable energy use in Europe has been triggered by the countries response to the energy crisis in the wake of the Ukraine war. New policy measures are also helping to drive significant capacity increases in the US and India over the next two years, the IEA said.

China will consolidate its leading place as driver of growth in the sector, accounting for nearly 55% of global additions of renewable power capacity this year and the next.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity additions will account for two-thirds of this year’s increase, and are expected to keep growing in 2024. High electricity prices have been driving the faster growth growth in small-scale rooftop systems, the report said.

Wind power capacity additions are forecast to grow by almost 70% in 2023 year-on-year after a sluggish two-year period. This increase, the IEA says, is mainly due to the completion of projects that had been delayed by Covid restrictions in China and by supply chain issues in the US and Europe.

Eni and RINA Sign Up to Pursue Biofuel and Electrofuel Initiatives

Eni has signed up with class society RINA to work together on green-fuel initiatives, particularly in the maritime bunkering market.

The agreement focuses on the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biofuel produced by Eni in its Venice and Gela bio-refineries. Eni's HVO is made from feedstocks that do not compete directly with food and feed crops, such as waste and agricultural residues. The firm currently supplies HVO-based diesel for heavy transport and bio-jet fuel (sustainable aviation fuel) for aircraft. It aims to have about four million tonnes of production capacity online by the middle of the decade, enough to supply one percent of maritime bunkering demand if all of the output were reserved for maritime users.

The sustainability of HVO is dependent on the sustainability of the feedstock, and Eni has been investing in eco-friendly improvements. It phased out consumption of palm oil in October, and it is ramping up imports of castor bean and cotton oils from its own operations in Kenya. Production of these sustainable oils is expected to scale up rapidly to 20,000 tons by 2023, and Eni hopes to have a vertically-integrated supply chain of waste oil and non-edible oil of 700,000 tonnes per year by 2026. It is replicating its results in Kenya across other African countries and further abroad.

"Cooperation between companies is the way forward towards the common goal of decarbonizing industry and transport. By sharing know-how and experience with Eni, we will contribute to developing innovative energy supply models," Ugo Salerno, Chairman and CEO of RINA. "Our collaboration will begin by focusing on the maritime sector, a diversified and hard-to-abate industry that can draw on initiatives already adopted by other industrial segments to decarbonize operations."

The partnership also extends to future marine fuels like blue and green hydrogen and ammonia, as well as the logistics and distribution of new energy carriers and the adoption of methods for calculating the emissions benefits. "Following a technology-agnostic approach, we are exploring multiple solutions," said Giuseppe Ricci, Chief Operating Officer for Energy Evolution at Eni.

Eni and RINA might also pursue experiments and pilot projects in on-board carbon capture.

Aberdeen Explores Undersea Hydrogen Storage for Offshore Production

One of the innovation projects being funded by a Scottish government initiative to support the development of hydrogen as an energy source will explore the concept of subsea storage as a means to support large-scale offshore hydrogen production. Port of Aberdeen, in partnership with Subsea7, is leading this as one of the 32 projects that were recently announced as recipients to share £7 million ($8.7 million) in grants for the exploration and/or demonstration projects.

The Scottish Government announced the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme in 2022 as a capital funding stream of the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund. The program is to award a total of £10 million ($12.4 million) to be delivered over four years from 2022/23 to 2025/26. The objectives of the scheme are to support innovation in hydrogen production, storage, and distribution technology to reduce the cost of hydrogen produced in Scotland as well as to enable Scottish companies not currently active in the hydrogen sector to transition or diversify their operations to help anchor the hydrogen supply chain in Scotland.

The list of programs was announced in mid-May and includes several storage projects as well as production and other elements across the sector. The Port of Aberdeen looks to explore subsea hydrogen storage at its new South Harbour site as a means of expanding its role in the sector and supporting offshore production. They are receiving a grant of £150,000 ($186,000) from the Scottish Government to investigate the feasibility of storing hydrogen underwater.

The H2Shore - Hydrogen coastal storage and distribution project will conduct thorough engineering analyses to determine the most effective technological approach and identify an appropriate offshore location. Additionally, the project will develop an outline business case, with energy consultancy firm, Xodus, scrutinizing the necessary distribution and bunkering requirements, with a focus on equipment, processes, and operating procedures.

“Ports have a pivotal role in the transition to hydrogen technologies, contributing to the journey towards net zero emissions and serving as crucial infrastructure for hydrogen transport and trade,” said Marlene Mitchell, Commercial Manager, Port of Aberdeen. “This initiative is one of many promising opportunities we're exploring to position Port of Aberdeen at the forefront of Scotland's burgeoning hydrogen economy."

Partner Subsea7 reports that they will be exploring and evaluating suitable concepts with the goal of enabling and accelerating offshore hydrogen production, storage, and infrastructure. The group is also receiving a second grant of a further £150,000 ($186,000) from the Scottish Government to investigate large-scale floating hydrogen production. The parallel concept study will focus on the offshore production of green hydrogen on a Floating Hydrogen Production Unit (FHPU) located close to offshore wind farms.

Scotland looks to use the funding initiative to help develop the wider hydrogen industry and position the country as a leader for the future of the industry. They hope to support the development and use of Scotland’s world-class test and demonstration facilities to expand their role in the hydrogen sector while also highlighting Scotland’s historic role in the energy sector and leadership in offshore wind energy.

LNG Carrier Shipbuilding Risks Stranded Assets Due to Climate Policies

Risk for stranded assets is high due to the rate of LNG carrier construction and climate change policies (file photo)

The rapid growth in LNG shipbuilding responding to the demand for gas transport is raising the likelihood of creating stranded assets writes Climate Analytics, a climate science and policy institute, in a newly released report entitled “High and Dry: The global energy transition's looming impact on the LNG and oil shipbuilding industry.” Partnering with South Korean climate and energy advocacy group Solutions for Our Climate, the report highlights the risk of overshooting LNG shipping capacity which is increased by future energy scenarios that call for the rapid elimination of fossil fuels.

“This report finds that the uptake in shipping capacity far exceeds global forecasts for the LNG trade as the world transitions away from fossil fuels,” writes Victor Maxwell and Nandini Das as co-authors of the report. The report calls for Korea and other shipbuilding countries to redirect public finance currently subsidizing fossil fuels, including shipbuilding activities, toward clean energy. Doing so they write would avoid stranded asset risk and delivery a transition for the shipbuilding industry away from its focus on gas carriers and crude oil tankers.

The orderbook for LNG carriers grew to record levels in 2022, with the authors citing the oil and gas industry’s “dash for LNG following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” While the war and the embargoes on Russian energy shifted demand to make up for the lost supplies, producing nations have also been rushing to increase capacity and LNG exports. Producers are expanding their facilities in the United States as nations such as China rapidly increase imports while Qatar is in the final phase of a long-term expansion project to open its new North Field which is expected to double the country’s exports.

The report analyzes the outlook for LNG carrier and oil tanker shipbuilding using a variety of scenarios in the efforts to slow global warming. They point out that these ship types in the five years between 2016 and 2020 accounted for 27 percent and 10 percent of shipbuilding globally.

They calculate that at the end of 2021, there were around 700 LNG ships. However, they highlight the rapid growth in 2022 saying that 34 LNG carriers were added last year and a further 335 LNG carriers are expected to deliver between 2023 and 2028, according to data from Clarkson Research.

They further highlight that the South Korean shipbuilding industry is heavily dependent on LNG carriers. Along with tankers they said these ships rank among South Korea’s top ten exports in terms of value. In 2022, Korean shipbuilders won over 70 percent of the orders for LNG carriers, representing 65 percent of the tonnage order from the country’s shipbuilders. The market for VLCCs has been slower based on the downturn in the oil markets but rebounded since mid-2022 as analysts predicted the beginning of a prolonged upcycle in the oil market.

The report highlights that shipowners are also continuing to explore further LNG carrier orders. They cite reports that QatarEnergy is in discussions with the South Korean shipbuilders for a further order of up to 40 LNG carriers for delivery by 2027. TotalEnergies is also reported in discussion for an order of 17 LNG carriers to support its resumption of the Mozambique LNG project.

“If built, the global LNG shipping capacity will further exceed IEA’s forecast of LNG trade,” the report warns. “This poses a particular risk for financial institutions that provide loans and underwriting to the capital-intensive shipbuilding industry.”

They conclude that any decline in the market for these ships will have a significant impact on the sector and broader implications for shipbuilding nations. Given the traditional economic lifespan for ships versus the timelines for cutting and eliminating fossil fuel use, the report highlights the potential for creating stranded assets among the current class of newbuilds. They call for shipbuilders and their nations to prepare for these changes highlighting the heavy dependence on oil tanker and gas carrier construction creates a likelihood for a fundamental crisis.

Methanol Institute Publishes 1st Guide to Methanol as a Marine Fuel

[By: The Methanol Institute]

The Methanol Institute (MI) has published the first comprehensive guide to methanol as a marine fuel. As the shipping industry continues its transition towards net carbon neutral operations, owners are increasingly choosing methanol as a fuel that can help them progressively reduce emissions in line with regulatory targets.

‘MARINE METHANOL Future-Proof Shipping Fuel’ has been produced to help stakeholders across the industry access the information they need to support decision-making on which alternative fuel is right for their fleet.

Sections of the report address regulatory drivers, environmental performance, engines and fuel systems, bunkering, handling and safety characteristics, costs and pricing, availability and feedstocks for conventional and renewable product. Also included are case studies on first movers including AP Moller-Maersk, Waterfront Shipping, Proman Stena Bulk and the conversion of ropax ferry Stena Germanica.

The orderbook for methanol fuelled ships has grown rapidly with owners and operators specifying the fuel for use on ships from the largest containerships to small pilot boats. In between is the growing fleet of methanol carriers, bunker tankers, bulk carriers, heavylift vessels, cruiseships, ferries and superyachts.

Approved for use as fuel under the IMO’s IGF Code, the momentum for methanol as fuel has increased as studies, analysis and guidance - much of it supported by the Methanol Institute - has been published. This includes early guidance for bunkering operations developed with Lloyd’s Register and subsequent work with the ports of Shanghai, Singapore and Rotterdam. Propulsion systems include tried and tested two-stroke main engines, four stroke units, and fuel cells using methanol for conversion to hydrogen. Main engine manufacturers report considerable order backlogs and are developing ever larger, higher capacity units. Studies and pilots continue to prove the effectiveness of converting smaller main engines to methanol operations.

“Methanol has staked a significant claim to be among the serious fuel choices for vessel designers, owners and operators looking to make a start on their transition to sustainable operations,” said MI Chief Executive Officer Greg Dolan. “While there won’t be a single decarbonization solution, it is clear that methanol has advantages that combine to provide a pathway to lower carbon and ultimately carbon-neutral operations; This report provides a clear roadmap for this journey.”

“Shipowners have recognised that methanol provides them with huge flexibility in introducing a low-pollution, lower carbon fuel which is closest to a drop-in available in the market,” said MI Chief Operating Officer Chris Chatterton. “The decision by more and more leading shipping companies to adopt methanol as fuel signals that the industry recognises the need to start its transition to net carbon neutrality now; this publication can support their decision-making process.” To download the guide, please click here.

For more information, please visit www.methanol.org.

The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive

South Africa Launches Inquiry Into Suspicious Russian Port Call

Following accusations of providing weapons and ammunition to Russia to aid Moscow’s war in Ukraine, South Africa’s top leadership has moved to defuse major fallout with the U.S. by appointing a panel to investigate the docking of a sanctioned Russian cargo ship at a naval base and establish whether any cargo was loaded.

A fortnight ago, U.S ambassador Reuben E. Brigety II accused South Africa of aiding Russia’s aggression in Ukraine after the sanctioned Lady R cargo ship docked at the country’s Simon’s Town naval base in December last year where it “uploaded weapons and ammunition."

Despite initially vehemently denying the accusations, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa has now appointed a three-member independent panel that will be headed by a retired judge to unearth the facts of the Russian vessel’s presence in the country in early December.

The investigation comes when the foreign ministers of the BRICS group, including Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, are meeting in South Africa to discuss pressing geopolitical issues, among them building a more influential alliance to counter the west.

While the U.S has called on its allies to condemn and isolate Russia over the Ukraine invasion, South Africa has largely leaned in favor of Moscow, despite projecting a neutral stance.

The investigation panel, which has six weeks to investigate the Lady R affair, will be mandated to establish the circumstances that led to the docking of the ship and the alleged loading of cargo and its subsequent departure from Simon’s Town in Western Cape. The panel will also be required to establish the persons who were aware of the ship’s arrival, and the nature of any cargo off-loaded or loaded, as well as the destination of the cargo.

“The President decided to establish the enquiry because of the seriousness of the allegations, the extent of public interest and the impact of this matter on South Africa’s international relations,” said the Presidency in a statement.

The panel will also evaluate whether all applicable laws were complied with during the port call. It will also include recommendations on actions to be taken against those responsible if it establishes that breaches occurred.

South Africa’s opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has welcomed the appointment of the panel and presented some tough questions that it wants answered over the Lady R debacle.

In particular, the Alliance wants the panel to establish why the ship was allowed to avoid the official entry and exit points of Portnet ports, who gave permission for the ship to be escorted by two naval vessels, and whether the top defense and naval leadership was involved in the ship’s entry and exit. T

“We believe the investigation must reveal why the government did not respond in time to the advance warning by the U.S about the visit of the Lady R, although the ship was never supposed to dock at a South African port,” noted the Democratic Alliance in a statement.

The docking of Lady R in South Africa’s biggest navy base is threatening to cause a rift between the U.S and South Africa, a risk the investigation could help avert. The U.S has hinted at taking action against South Africa if it is found to have aided Russia’s war in Ukraine or helped Moscow evade sanctions, with options like sanctions and revoking trade privileges on the table.

Malaysia Detains Chinese Grab Dredger for War Grave Desecration

A Chinese grab dredger notorious for vandalizing warship graveyards has been detained by Malaysian authorities after reports that the ship was dredging up pieces of the WWII warships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. The two warships were bombed and sunk by aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1941, leading to the loss of 842 men. It remains one of the worst disasters in British naval history.

The dredger Chuan Hong 68 was spotted last week at the wreck site, and a patrol boat from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) transited out to inspect it on Monday. The MMEA employed the local practice of detaining the ship for unpermitted anchoring. In this case, more than anchoring was at stake: On board, the inspectors found rusting artillery shells and other scrap on the ship. The shells appeared to be similar to other unexploded ordnance discovered at a scrap yard in Tanjung Belungkor on May 19, where a barge associated with the Chuan Hong 68's operation had been spotted.

The Chuan Hong's connection with wreck site robbing is under investigation. The penalty for the crewmembers could be as much as two years in prison if convicted, according to the New Straits Times.

Professional diver Hazz Zain first flagged the illicit commercial operation for the authorities earlier this month, drawing on information from local fisherment. Videos and pictures circulating on social media appeared to confirm their account.

“We are distressed and concerned at the apparent vandalism for personal profit of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. They are designated war graves. We are upset at the loss of naval heritage and the impact this has on the understanding of our Royal Navy history,” said Professor Dominic Tweddle, National Museum of the Royal Navy Director General.

Chuan Hong 68 had returned to the warship graveyard after a six-year lull. The Chinese grab dredger had gained notoriety over 2015-2018 for vandalizing sunken warships. In 2017, the dredger was responsible for illegally scavenging the wrecks of the pre-WWII Japanese destroyer Sagiri, plus the passenger vessels Hiyoshi Maru and Katori Maru, the steamship Igara and the tanker Seven Skies.

“What we need is a management strategy for the underwater naval heritage so that we can better protect or commemorate these ships. That may include targeted retrieval of objects,” said Tweddle.

ENDING ECOCIDE

Salvage of oil tanker stranded off Yemen can begin: UN

By AFP
Published May 30, 2023

Crew from the support vessel Ndeavor spy the abandoned oil tanker FSO Safer near the coast of Yemen in a handout photo from Dutch company Boskalis

— © KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File STR

The United Nations said Tuesday it is ready to start salvage work on an oil tanker stranded off Yemen’s coast with more than one million barrels of crude that pose an acute risk to the environment.

“We’re very happy to be on site where we can start the work,” David Gressly, the UN coordinator for Yemen, said by videoconference from aboard a support vessel that has arrived at the stricken ship, the FSO Safer.

In an unprecedented salvage plan, the UN has purchased a super-tanker to remove the oil from the vessel in the Red Sea. The actual pumping will start in about 10 days to two weeks, said Gressly.

The 47-year-old Safer has not been serviced since Yemen’s civil war broke out in 2015 and it was left abandoned off the rebel-held port of Hodeida, a critical gateway for shipments into a country heavily dependent on foreign aid.

Experts say the ship is at risk of breaking apart, exploding or catching fire.

The Safer’s 1.1 million barrels are four times as much oil as that which spilled in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska, one of the world’s worst ecological catastrophes, according to the UN.

The salvage operation, which will cost an estimated more than $140 million, has been assigned to a company called SMIT Salvage. It will pump the oil from the Safer to the now UN-owned ship called Nautica, and then tow away the empty tanker.

That’s much cheaper than the costs estimated to take care of a potentially catastrophic oil spill, which would take $20 billion to clean up.

But the UN says it is still $29 million dollars short on the sprawling project.

A SMIT support vessel called the Ndeavor arrived Tuesday at the site loaded with equipment. It will begin preparatory work on Wednesday.

“With the arrival of the Ndeavor next to the FSO in the Red Sea, we truly have reached a critical milestone,” said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Development Programme, which is in charge of the salvage operation.

“If all goes according to plan, somewhere in late June, early July, we might be in a position to say that that critical phase of the ship-to-ship transfer could be completed,” Steiner said.

Video: UN-Backed Salvage Team Arrives at FSO Safer off Yemen

FSO salvage operation begins — Salvage experts arrived at the FSO Safer off Yemen and are beginning with a visual inspection of the decaying vessel (UN photo)

The team for the UN-backed salvage effort of the decaying offshore oil storage tanker FSO Safer (406,000 dwt) arrived in Yemen today, May 30, to begin the operation that plans to transfer the more than one million barrels of crude oil from the decaying tanker. Boskalis and the team from SMIT reported that they departed Djibouti along with UN representatives on May 29 to begin an operation that has been estimated will take more than seven weeks.

“After two years of political groundwork, fundraising, and UNDP project development, the operation on the water is set to begin!,” David Gressly, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Tweeted today. After years of working to reach the agreements necessary for the operation, Gressly was aboard the Boskalis vessel Ndeavor as it arrived at the FSO Safer.

The UN has been leading the difficult negotiations originally proposing to survey the vessel and oversee repairs to the rebels which control that region of Yemen. The earlier agreements to oversee the maintenance and repairs of the vessel which was built in 1976 failed and the UN later reported that it had been determined that the FSO Safer was beyond repair and at imminent risk of leaking, sinking, or possibly exploding because its tanks have not been properly vented in years. Only a skeleton crew with limited resources has been aboard the tanker moored about 4.8 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen.

The Ndeavor had recently been in Djibouti after passing through the Suez Canal. Joining in the international contributions, Egypt gave the vessel free passage in support of the effort. While in Djibouti, final supplies and a team of approximately 40 salvage experts and support staff boarded the vessel.

The plan calls for the team to immediately begin a visual inspection of the FSO Safer while also taking measurements regarding the level of toxic gas. The ventilation system has reportedly not been operational since 2017. The salvage team will inspect the pumps and engine room, the status of the mooring arrangement, and assess the condition of the estimated 1.4 million barrels of light crude as well as the cargo lines, inert gas lines, valves, and manifolds.

The team is also carrying a portable inert gas generator which they plan to use to begin to stabilize the tanks on the FSO Safer. They expect it will take two weeks during this first phase of the operation and only then will the tanker purchased from Euronav arrive in Yemen. The Nautica (307,000 dwt) is currently waiting in Djibouti.

UN supplied video shows the condition of the vessel as the team arrived today in Yemen

The actual transfer of the oil is expected to take 19 days between the two ships. During the final phase, which will require an additional 17 days, the salvage team will use a mobile spray tank cleaning machine. The residuals and dirty water will also be transferred to the Nautica.

Under the UN plan, the FSO Safer will be sold for green recycling. The UN is continuing the fundraising efforts to pay for the operation, noting that the oil belongs to rebels and can not be used to pay the costs of the transfer.

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