Safer Tanker and Red Sea Security: Statement During Briefing

Thank you Mr. President.

I thank Ms. Inger Andersen and Ms. Reena Ghelani for their briefings.

Kenya calls for immediate action to prevent the looming environmental and humanitarian threat posed by the Safer Tanker.

We condemn its exploitation as a political tool. And consider such cynical utilisation of its threat to the environment, and the people who depend on it, to be an extension of the resistance to the cessation of hostilities.

The humanitarian analysis non-profit ACAPS estimates it would affect over 31,000 fishermen and over 200,000 workers in fishing-related industries and likely shut down the port of Hodeida for months. In case of a fire, almost 6 million people in Yemen and 1 million more in Saudi Arabia could be exposed to very high air-pollution levels resulting in a health crisis in addition to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The countries and peoples bordering the Red Sea, and the immediate region, have enough challenges to their wellbeing. They do not need the added burden of a massive oil spill that destroys their livelihoods.

A key challenge to the International Community, and to the Security Council, is the present silo approach to the security threats in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Today we are speaking of the Safer Tanker. To this we need to add awareness, as a step to joint-up responsiveness, to toxic waste dumping, the dealing in illicit crude oil, illegal trafficking in drugs, arms and humans, piracy, and attacks on commercial shipping, all occurring in a maritime route that is instrumental to global trade and prosperity.

Beyond the threat of the Safer Tanker, recall the worldwide impact of the ship that stuck in the Suez Canal. Now project a widespread enough deterioration of security, over a long period of time, in the open sea to the point that navigation is seriously hampered.

It becomes clear that the stability of regions on both sides of the Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean are a strategic imperative.

Thankfully, Our region is beginning to respond.

Kenya calls the attention of the Council to the welcome efforts by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in 2018 to undertake an analysis of the geostrategic situation and trends in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Some of the initial analysis shows that these water bodies are key to the sustainable utilisation and management of their resources. And these, we all know, are key to enabling the region to meet its Sustainable Development Goals.

It also noted that there is an increasing manifestation of regional rivalries and brinksmanship, in the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden, that present trends continuing can become threats to global security.

Taking such insights seriously leads us to propose that more attention also needs to be paid to the potential effects that can result from escalation in threats to commercial traffic, including tankers carrying oil and gas. Or the impact to peace and humanitarian concern from the smuggling of weapons and supplies to terrorist groups who threaten the territorial integrity and even viability of states.

The International Community can, and should, strengthen joint efforts in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and adjoining water bodies, to combat piracy, smuggling, illegal dumping and other threats to stability.

Kenya welcomes inclusive mechanisms, underwritten by international law and committed to a rules-based order, among the littoral states of Red Sea and western Indian Ocean to preempt and manage threats to sea routes, maritime economy, environment and coastal security.

Those parties that place obstacles to solutions brought forth in response to this need should be considered, and treated, as undermining wider peace and security.

Back to the Safer Tanker. Six years on, the Security Council must take decisive steps to resolve this looming crisis.

At a minimum, the negotiators should design an agreed revenue sharing mechanism from the proceeds of the oil onboard the tanker. The concerned parties, on their part must do away with any unnecessary preconditions and impediments that delay a resolution.

We call on the Houthis to immediately grant access for the inspection and repair of the tanker. Lack of action on this front should be considered an act that directly threatens global environmental security and wellbeing. It should also be treated as an attack on the human security of Yemen's people.

I re-emphasise Kenya's commitment to collaborate and assist parties seeking to solve this specific challenge of the Safer Tanker, and to advancing the security of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

I thank you.