U.N. seeks $144 million to offload decaying Yemen oil tanker

AMMAN (Reuters) - The United Nations will launch a $144 million appeal on Wednesday for an operation to offload a million barrels of crude oil from a tanker stranded off the coast of war-torn Yemen for years which threatens a major environmental disaster.

David Gressly, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, said he hoped a donors conference held with the support of Netherlands in the Hague would quickly mobilise funds to avert a catastrophe on the Red Sea coast and its region.