VOA新闻杂志2023 联合国欲转移红海油轮上的石油

UN Aims to Remove Oil from Tanker¹ in Red Sea

联合国欲转移红海油轮上的石油

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转移停泊在红海也门海岸一艘油轮上的石油。

The oil tanker, called the SOF Safer, has not been used for at least eight years. It contains over 1 million barrels of oil.

这艘萨菲尔号油轮已经至少8年没有使用了。它装载了100多万桶石油。

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

专家说，这艘船有发生破裂或爆炸的危险。

The Associated Press reported in 2020 that seawater entered the ship's engine room and caused damage. The water also put the ship in danger of sinking.

美联社2020年报道称，海水进入该船的机舱并造成损坏。这些积水也使这艘船面临沉没的危险。

For years, the United Nations and governments of nearby countries warned that an explosion or oil leak could disrupt shipping² in the Middle East. The ship is close to the Yemeni ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa. Many ships travel from the Persian Gulf³, past Yemen and through Egypt's Suez Canal to get to the Mediterranean⁴ Sea.

多年来，联合国和周边国家政府一直警告说，爆炸或石油泄漏可能会扰乱中东的航运。该船靠近也门荷台达港和拉斯伊萨港。许多船只从波斯湾出发，经过也门，通过埃及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，以便船员能够从萨菲尔号上转移石油。

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

安东尼奥·古特雷斯是联合国秘书长。他在一份声明中表示，这项工作是“避免环境和人道主义灾难的关键一步”。

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

联合国表示，这项工作将在三周内完成。

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，以便运送从马里卜油田开采的石油。

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，若发生泄漏，可能比1989年埃克森瓦尔迪兹号油轮泄漏更严重，这次事故是最大的生态灾难之一。

When the oil is removed, the work will not be over, however. The Safer will be anchored to an underwater oil pipeline⁸ before it is taken away to a scrapyard.

但是当石油被转移后，工作不会结束。萨菲尔号在被送往废料场之前，将被锚定在水下输油管道上。

David Gressly is the U.N. humanitarian official for Yemen. He said moving the oil will prevent a "worst-case scenario⁹." Guterres said, cleaning up an oil spill in Yemen could have cost "tens of billions of dollars."

大卫·格雷斯利是联合国也门人道主义事务官员。他说，转移石油能防止“最坏的情况”。古特雷斯说，若也门发生石油泄漏进行清理，可能需要“数百亿美元”。

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。