UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations has launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring the world closer together in a bid to avoid an oil spill off Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah from inflicting calamity for the region and beyond.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, David Gressly, launched a crowdfunding effort on Monday to ask people all over the world to donate USD5 million in individual donations before the end of the month so that work can begin in July, according to a statement from the UN.

The transfer is part of a USD144 million two-track proposal that also includes the installation of a replacement vessel for the floating storage and offloading (FSO) Safer oil tanker. 

Following Saudi Arabia's announcement of a USD10 million donation this week, around three-quarters of the required funds have been received. According to the UN, the US is also working on a USD10 million commitment.
The Netherlands and the United States co-hosted a pledge conference on May 11 that gathered almost USD40 million of the required cash.

The rotting, outdated supertanker has been dubbed a "floating time-bomb" that might explode or spill four times the amount of oil that the Exxon Valdez spilled in the Red Sea in 1989.

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