After two years of political groundwork, fundraising and project development, a United Nations-led operation has prevented a massive oil spill in the Red Sea from the decaying FSO Safer supertanker. SMIT Salvage, a subsidiary of the leading marine service provider Boskalis, transferred over 1.1 million barrels of oil from the 47-year-old Safer to the safe replacement vessel Yemen. SMIT was contracted by the UN Development Programme, which is implementing the project. The UN is grateful to member states, the private sector and the global public for providing more than $121 million to make the oil transfer possible. But the Safer still poses a residual environmental threat. To finish the work, an additional $22 million is required. The UN counts on additional generous support to close the budget gap.