Hodeidah Governor Warns of Environmental Damage Caused by Houthi Red Sea Attacks
(AWP) - The Governor of Hodeidah in Yemen, Al-Hassan Ali Taher, said that the Houthi attacks targeting oil tankers in the Red Sea will have severe consequences on the environment and marine life, threatening the fishing sector which provides livelihoods for the overwhelming majority of the region’s residents.
Taher said, “The maritime disruption taking place in the Red Sea will have an extraordinary environmental impact on Yemen and neighbouring countries. Of course, this is a result of the oil spills from tankers targeted by Houthi missiles or drones. This has other repercussions on marine life and causes tragedies for fishing and fishermen, who represent 90% of the region's population.”
“There is negligence in dealing with the Red Sea, starting with the [FSO vessel] Safer and ending with the crisis we are suffering from. They transferred oil from Safer to another, more dilapidated, ship which is a ticking time bomb in my view. Now there is significant leakage from some tankers, and the oil spills spread and increase, exacerbating the tragedy for all Yemenis.”
He added, “The international community is truly hypocritical, seeking its own interests and not caring about the interests of others. The whole world is interconnected. A speck now in the Red Sea has shaken the entire world. We hope that the international community will wake up from its slumber and improve its behaviour and the backward mentality that leads us to these disasters.”
The United States and Britain have carried out repeated airstrikes on Houthi locations, aiming to disrupt and weaken the group's ability to endanger freedom of navigation and threaten global trade.
The Houthi group claims it has been targeting ships and tankers operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to or from Israel, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli war since October 7.