A crude oil spill is imminent from a super tanker abandoned in Yemen's Red Sea for six years, and if this situation becomes a reality, 9 million people could face water shortages, a study found.

According to the British Daily Guardian on the 11th (local time), a research team, including Stanford Medical School, analyzed this in the report 'Public health impacts from the imminent Red Sea oil spill' published in the international scientific journal Nature on the same day.

According to the report, the possibility of an outflow of about 1.1 million barrels of crude oil is increasing as the Yemeni civil war intensifies corrosion of the super tanker Safer, which has been abandoned off the coast of Hodeida, a Yemeni rebel stronghold since 2015.

In May of last year, the research team focused on the possibility that water could seep into the engine room due to a leak in the seawater pipe, and the firefighting equipment in the ship would not work, causing a leak or leakage from combustion.

If the oil spill becomes a reality, it could disrupt the flow of trade through the Bav el-Mandev Strait, which accounts for about 10% of global shipping trade.

Half of the spilled oil is expected to evaporate within 24 hours, while the rest will reach the western coast of Yemen within 6-10 days. Within three weeks, the range is expected to expand to the southern port.

In particular, the spill could lead to the closure of Hodeida and Salif ports on the Red Sea coast within two weeks.

As a result, fuel prices are expected to rise by 80% and Yemen's 9 to 9.9 million residents will suffer from water shortages.

The number of people in need of food aid is estimated to be between 5.7 million and 8.4 million, depending on a number of variables, including weather factors, the extent of the spill and the situation of the port being closed.

Air pollution caused by the spill leads to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and among hospitalized patients, 11.3 million in winter and 19.5 million in summer are expected to be affected.

In addition, the Red Sea fishing volume and coral reef ecosystems will also be affected.

The research team suggested that 66.5~85.2% of the fishing volume within one week of the spill could be threatened, and within three weeks this ratio could increase to 93.5~100%, and the fishery could be wiped out.

It was also found that the environmental damage caused by the spilled oil extends beyond Yemen to Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Djibouti.

Meanwhile, the UN is trying to start rescue operations such as inspecting oil tankers, but the Houthis rebels are demanding conditions that the UN cannot afford, such as repairing ships, making negotiations difficult.

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