Experts fear deserted oil tanker off Yemen could explode

'Floating bomb' holding 1m oil barrels could create environmental disaster in Red Sea

A deserted oil tanker described as a "floating bomb" that is currently anchored off the coast of war-torn Yemen has the potential to create an environmental disaster, according to experts.

A byproduct of the battle between the Saudi-backed UN Yemen government and the Houthis, the tanker, containing over 1m barrels of oil, is said to be eroding fast, but UN officials' plans to visit the ship this week to assess the scale of the damage have been blocked. There are fears that gases have built up in the storage tanks, which means the ship could explode.