A Canadian company is likely responsible for some of the oil on board the tanker Safer, according to a Greenpeace investigation. the Safer has been abandoned in the Red Sea since 2015 with over 1 million barrels on board and poses “imminent environmental risks”.
Posted at 3:43 p.m.
In the summer of 2021, Agence France-Presse reported that the Safer began to sink and leak, leaving an oil slick along the Yemeni coast.
The United Nations (UN) estimates the cost of the rescue operation of the ship at 80 million US, a sum it announced to have amassed last August alone.
In an investigation published Tuesday, Greenpeace reveals that Western multinationals, including Alberta’s TransGlobe Energy Corporation, are “probably responsible” for part of the 1.1 million barrels of fuel contained in the ship. Others include giants like ExxonMobil and Sinopec.
Greenpeace asks these oil companies to finance the rescue operation of the ship. The organization also asks that they be “held responsible for any damage resulting from the Saferincluding compensation for humanitarian and environmental damage and response to oil spills or explosions”.
According to Greenpeace, “despite the billions of dollars these big oil companies have earned […], none have stepped in to help” so far. TransGlobe reported profits of US$24.9 million in the first quarter of 2022.
Saying it is “deeply concerned about the imminent environmental risks and potential humanitarian risks posed by the Safer tanker”, Canada announced earlier this month that it would provide $2.5 million for the rescue operation.
The Press asked the federal government if it intended to pass the bill to TransGlobe in light of the Greenpeace revelations. We also sent questions to the oil company. Neither had responded at the time of posting.