The United Nations has launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise some of the $20m needed to lighter oil from a decaying floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel off the coast of Yemen.

The social media campaign opened for public donations on Tuesday following the failure to hit the $80m target needed to empty the 407,000-dwt FSO Safer (built 1976) that is at risk of leaking and causing an environmental catastrophe.