UNDP: Operational Phase of FSO Safer Emergency Plan

As previously reported, in 2022 the UN Plan for the FSO Safer Tanker Stop the Red Sea Catastrophe had received sufficient funding pledges to start the first phase of the emergency operation. In September 2022 preparatory work for the operation began, however a significant price increase in the market for suitable vessels to undertake the operation since occured, “chiefly due to factors related to the war in Ukraine”. Therefore, on 9 March 2023 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed an agreement with Euronav to secure the purchase of a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), with an anticipated arrival at the mooring location of the FSO Safer in May 2023 to begin operations. “The purchase of this suitable vessel by UNDP marks the beginning of the operational phase of the UN-coordinated plan” (UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner).