Bhubaneswar, Aug. 15 -- United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" about the condition of an oil tanker moored off the western coast of Yemen, his spokesperson has said.

Built in 1974, the FSO Safer oil tanker reportedly sprang a leak in 2019, after being used as a storage vessel since the late 1980s, and was abandoned after its engine room flooded with seawater, threatening to destabilise the vessel and discharge its cargo.

The aging ship has had almost no maintenance since the civil conflict in Yemen intensified in 2015 and risks causing a major oil spill, explosion or fire, that would have catastrophic environmental and humanitarian consequences for Yemen and the region.

Guterres said the potential o...