<h5>What are oil spills?</h5>  <p>Huge amounts of oil are carried from one place to another through large ships called oil tankers. This journey is usually safe, but sometimes accidents may happen and cause the oil to fall into the ocean. Oil spills are extremely harmful to the environment. They poison sea animals and destroy corals. Cleaning up an oil spill is also very costly.</p>
<p>We all make mistakes, but don’t you sometimes wish that you could go back in time and fix your mistake? This is sort of the case with the FSO Safer. It’s a disaster that we can save from happening if we act now.
</p> <h5>The story of the FSO Safer.</h5>  <p>The FSO Safer is one of the biggest oil tankers in the world. It holds millions of barrels of oil and sits on the shore of Yemen, a country in the Middle East. This ship never moves, it is used as a floating storage unit. </p>
<p>This tanker was built in 1976 and is now more than 45 years old. The age of the tanker would not have been a problem if it was being properly taken care of. Since 2005, the Safer has been abandoned and is so old and rusty that it could explode or catch fire at any given moment. 
</p> <h5>Why has Yemen abandoned its tanker?</h5>  <p>This oil tanker may be old, but it still carries oil worth many millions of dollars in it. So why would anyone abandon it like this? In 2015, a war broke out in Yemen. A group of rebels called Houthis planned to take over the government. Since then, the country has been at war. </p>
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Both the government and the Houthis want control of the FSO Safer. Till they reach an agreement, the ship will remain untouched. But time is running out, if the oil spills then it could cost $20 billion dollars to clean up!
</p> <h5>What does this mean for the people of Yemen?</h5>  <p>Yemen is already going through a humanitarian crisis.  The people of Yemen are facing a famine. Thousands of them die because of improper shelter or healthcare. These people rely on help from other countries and organisations. </p>
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The oil spill would make it hard for countries to send help since 90% of Yemen’s food is imported through the port of Hodeida, where the Safer sits.  
</p> <h5>Who can solve this problem and how?</h5>  <p>After years of discussions, the United Nations (UN) has developed a plan. This plan involves moving the oil from the Safer to a new oil tanker. The Safer will then be taken away and dismantled. This must be done soon since the high winds and strong currents of the sea will make the operation more dangerous later in the year.
</p> <h5>Why is this in the news now?</h5>  <p>On 11th May 2022, the UN held an event to collect funds for this plan. Some countries that promised to donate include Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, France, and  Switzerland. They have collected $40 billion to begin their mission. We hope this effort to save the ocean works! We'd rather not read about this in a history book!
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Ships are usually meant to transport people and things across the ocean. But there is one ship that’s been stuck in one place for the last 35 years, and it's going to cost us!

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