VOA时事新闻2023 联合国开始转移"萨菲尔"号油轮所存原油

An international team is working to remove oil from a ship anchored in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.

一个国际小组正在努力清除一艘停泊在也门红海海域的船只上的石油。

The oil tanker¹, called the SOF Safer, has not been used for at least eight years.

这艘油轮叫做“萨菲尔”号，已经至少八年没有被使用过了。

It contains over 1 million barrels of oil.

它含有100多万桶石油。

Experts say the ship is at risk of breaking up or exploding.

专家表示，这艘船有破裂或爆炸的风险。

The Associated Press reported in 2020 that seawater entered the ship's engine room and caused damage.

美联社曾在2020年报道称，海水进入该船的机舱并造成了损坏。

The water also put the ship in danger of sinking.

海水也使这艘船有沉没的危险。

For years, the United Nations and governments of nearby countries warned that an explosion or oil leak could disrupt shipping² in the Middle East.

多年来，联合国和附近国家的政府一直警告称，爆炸或石油泄漏可能会扰乱中东地区的航运。

The ship is close to the Yemeni ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa.

这艘船靠近也门的荷台达和拉斯伊萨港口。

Many ships travel from the Persian Gulf³, past Yemen and through Egypt's Suez Canal to get to the Mediterranean⁴ Sea.

许多船只从波斯湾出发，经过也门，通过埃及的苏伊士运河到达地中海。

The United Nations purchased another oil tanker so crews could move the oil from the Safer.

联合国购买了另一艘油轮，以便工作人员可以将石油从“萨菲尔”号上移走。

Antonio Guterres is the UN Secretary General.

安东尼奥·古特雷斯是联合国秘书长。

In a statement, he said the work is a "critical next step in avoiding an environmental and humanitarian⁵ catastrophe⁶."

他在一份声明中说，这项工作是“避免环境和人道主义灾难的关键下一步”。

The U.N. said the job will be done in less than three weeks.

联合国表示，这项工作将会在不到三周的时间内完成。

The Safer was built in the 1970s and sold to the Yemeni government in the 1980s so it could move oil pumped from the fields in Marib.

“萨菲尔”号建造于20世纪70年代，并于20世纪80年代出售给也门政府，以便运送从马里布油田开采的石油。

The U.N. said a leak could have been worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, one of the largest ecological⁷ disasters.

联合国表示，“萨菲尔”号油轮漏油事故可能比1989年“埃克森·瓦尔迪兹”号油轮漏油事故更严重，后者是最大的生态灾难之一。

When the oil is removed, the work will not be over, however.

然而，在石油被移除后，工作还没有结束。

The Safer will be anchored to an underwater oil pipeline⁸ before it is taken away to a scrapyard.

“萨菲尔”号油轮将被锚定在水下输油管道上，然后被运往废品场。

David Gressly is the U.N. humanitarian official for Yemen.

大卫·格雷斯利是联合国驻也门人道主义官员。

He said moving the oil will prevent a "worst-case scenario⁹."

他说，转移石油可以防止出现“最坏的情况”。

Guterres said, cleaning up an oil spill in Yemen could have cost "tens of billions of dollars."

古特雷斯说，清理也门的漏油油轮可能要花费“数百亿美元”。

I'm Dan Friedell.

丹·弗里德尔为您播报。

1 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

2 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

7 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

8 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

9 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。