After years of preparation and a race against the clock, the United Nations will next week start removing 1.14m barrels of oil from a decaying floating storage and offloading unit stuck off the coast of Yemen.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Monday that a replacement tanker received approval from local authorities to set sail from Djibouti and approach the 406,600-dwt FSO Safer (built 1976).