UN hands over vessel to Houthis as oil transfer of decaying tanker set to start

HODEIDAH, Yemen, July 18: The United Nations delivered a replacement vessel to Yemen's Houthi group on Monday as part of an urgent mission to avert a potential oil spill from the decaying Safer tanker off Yemen's western coast.

The handover ceremony took place aboard the Nautica, the replacement tanker chartered by the UN in March that arrived at the location of the Safer on Sunday. During the ceremony, which was attended by UN officials and representatives from the Houthi authorities, the tanker was officially renamed the Yemen, a Xinhua correspondent witnessed.