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STORY: UN / YEMEN GRESSLY
TRT: 02:11
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 08 APRIL 2022, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Tilt up, exterior UN Headquarters
08 APRIL 2022, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, David Gressly at the press room dais
3. Wide shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) David Gressly, Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, United Nations:
“My team has been working very hard with others over the past six months to defuse what's aptly been called a time bomb sitting off Yemen's Red Sea coast. I'm optimistic that the Safer will end up as a positive news story. We have a new United Nations coordinated plan to address the imminent threat of a major oil spill from the Safer. If it were to happen, the spill would unleash a massive ecological and humanitarian catastrophe centred on a country already decimated by more than seven years of war.”
5. SOUNDBITE (English) David Gressly, Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, United Nations:
“Without funding over the next six weeks or so, the project will not begin on time and this time bomb will continue to tick. My particular concern is really we need to finish this operation by the end of September to avoid the turbulent winds and currents that start in the latter part of the year, in October, November December, increasing the risk of a breakup.”
6. Wide shot, dais
7. SOUNDBITE (English) David Gressly, Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, United Nations:
“The good news is that the United Nations has a viable plan to address the threat. The plan is supported by the Government of Yemen in Aden. As you know, I signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sana’a based de facto authorities which control the area where the vessel is located. The Memorandum of Understanding established a framework for cooperation in which the Sana’a based authorities have committed to facilitating the success of the project.”
8. Wide shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) David Gressly, Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, United Nations:
“Next week, I'll lead a mission to donor capitals in the Gulf region to discuss the plan and seek their support. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is a critical stakeholder in support of the UN's effort, will host the pledging event and in the coming weeks in the month of May. The plan success hinges on donor commitments of funds now, to begin work by the beginning of June.”
10. Wide shot, journalists
11. Wide shot, dais
The United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly, today (8 Apr) told journalists in New York that he was “optimistic” that the operation to salvage the Safer tanker off the coast of Yemen, “will end up as a positive news story.”
Gressly said his team “has been working very hard with others over the past six months to defuse what's aptly been called a time bomb sitting off Yemen's Red Sea coast,” and noted that there is a new United Nations coordinated plan in place “to address the imminent threat of a major oil spill from the Safer.”
A spill, he said, “would unleash a massive ecological and humanitarian catastrophe centred on a country already decimated by more than seven years of war.”
The humanitarian official said, “without funding over the next six weeks or so, the project will not begin on time and this time bomb will continue to tick,” and expressed concern that the operation needs to take place “by the end of September to avoid the turbulent winds and currents that start in the latter part of the year, in October, November December, increasing the risk of a breakup.”
The “good news,” he said, is that the United Nations has “a viable plan to address the threat,” supported by the Government of Yemen in Aden, as well as “a memorandum of understanding with the Sana’a based de facto authorities which control the area where the vessel is located.”
Gressly told journalists that next week, he will lead a mission to donor capitals in the Gulf region “to discuss the plan and seek their support,” and stressed that “the plan success hinges on donor commitments of funds now, to begin work by the beginning of June.”
The FSO Safer is anchored just 4.8 nautical miles off the Yemen coast.
