South Korea's foreign ministry said Friday it will provide US$200,000 in humanitarian aid for the United Nations to begin an operation to prevent a catastrophic oil spill from a decaying supertanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast.

The pledge was part of an international effort for the rescue operation of the oil tanker FSO Safer, which is expected to break up or explode unless the U.N. acts, according to the ministry.

The oil tanker, which contains 1.1 million barrels, was built in 1976 and has decayed to the point where there is an imminent risk it could explode or break apart, the U.N. said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency