UNITED NATIONS

The UN said Wednesday that it could finish offloading oil from a decaying tanker off Yemen if donors quickly provide the remaining $34 million that is needed.

The UN recently purchased a ship that it hopes will avert a catastrophic spill from the decaying vessel.

''There has also been progress on the Safer tanker. Last week, UNDP announced the purchase of a replacement vessel that should arrive in Hudaydah in May,'' Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya told the 15-member Security Council.

''This means the offloading operation could finish by September -- if donors quickly provide the remaining $34 million needed.''

The FSO Safer oil tanker is a floating storage and offloading unit located off the western coast of Yemen, 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the port of Al-Hudaydah. It is used for storing and exporting oil coming from oilfields in the oil-rich central province of Marib.

Now under the control of Houthi rebels, the tanker has not undergone maintenance since 2015 and more than 1 million barrels of crude oil have been sitting on a decaying vessel in the Red Sea.

A statement released last week by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said a major spill would devastate fishing communities on Yemen's Red Sea coast, likely instantly wiping out 200,000 livelihoods.

''Whole communities would be exposed to life-threatening toxins. Highly polluted air would affect millions," it said.

The cost of cleanup of a potential oil spill alone is estimated at $20 billion, according to the UNDP.