At the end of July, the ship-to-ship transfer of the oil from the FSO Safer to the replacement oil tanker Yemen (formerly known as Nautica) began. It is an important milestone in this United Nations-coordinated operation to avert a potential massive environmental and humanitarian disaster off the coast of Yemen.
Last week, Boskalis announced the oil transfer is progressing well and will take two to three weeks.
To pump the oil to the Yemen, hydraulic pumps are lowered into each tank of the FSO Safer. During this transfer operation inert gas is supplied to keep the tank atmosphere at safe levels during the operation.
Also read: VIDEO: FSO Safer oil transfer preparations almost completed
Once all the pumpable oil has been removed from the Safer, a layer of thick oil will remain on the bottom of the tanks. This layer will be removed by a mobile spray tank cleaning machine, which will clean the inside of the tanks in an operation that is expected to take two to three weeks.
Watch a video of the mooring of the replacement oil tanker Yemen alongside the FSO Safer and the start of the ship-to-ship oil transfer below.
Also read: Boskalis to remove oil from FSO Safer in Yemen
The picture at the top is a still from the same video.
Also read: UN acquires oil tanker to remove oil from FSO Safer
