Roundup: UN transfers oil from decaying tanker to avert environmental disaster off Yemeni coast

ADEN, Yemen, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The UN emergency team on Tuesday started to transfer crude oil from a decaying Safer tanker moored off Yemen's western coast as part of an urgent mission to avert a potential environmental catastrophe of massive oil spill.

The Safer tanker, originally constructed as a supertanker in 1976 and later converted to a floating storage and offloading facility (FSO) for oil, is currently moored approximately 4.8 nautical miles (8,890 meters) off the coast of Hodeidah Province in Yemen.