UN signs deal to salvage stranded oil from tanker off Yemen

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations says it has signed an agreement to purchase a very large vessel that can transfer more than 1 million barrels of crude now stranded in a rusting old tanker off the coast of war-torn Yemen. It’s the first step in an eventual operation to evacuate the cargo and eliminate the threat of massive environmental damage from a possible oil spill or explosion. The administrator of the U.N. Development Program told a news conference on Thursday that the agreement had been signed with Euronav, the world’s largest independent tanker company. He said the ship-to-ship transfer could start in early May.