The United Nations (UN) Bought a Boat! What's Going on With Shipping? March 10, 2023 In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - maritime historian at Campbell University and former merchant mariner - discusses the United Nation's purchase of a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) supertanker to offload the decaying FSO (Floating Storage and Offload) Safer off the coast of Yemen, which has been abandoned since 2015 due to war in region. Questions involve who will operate the new UN tanker, what registry will it operate under, how the operation will be conducted and what is the ultimate plan for the vessel after the operation. The UN also secured a new High Seas Treaty on biodiversity that now heads to countries for ratification.