Euronav to work with United Nations in rescue operation for stricken FSO Safer

10 Mar 2023 07:45 CET

EURONAV TO WORK WITH UNITED NATIONS IN RESCUE OPERATION FOR STRICKEN FSO SAFER

ANTWERP, Belgium, 10 March, 2023 – Euronav NV (“EURN” or “Euronav”) (NYSE:
EURN & Euronext: EURN) today announces it has signed an agreement with the
UN to sell a VLCC as part of a wider salvage operation for the FSO Safer located
in
Yemen. Euronav will provide a suitable vessel that will go to drydock for
necessary
modifications and regular maintenance before sailing to the FSO Safer moored
about 8 km off Yemen’s Ras Isa peninsula, for the operation to remove and store
the oil.

The vessel will replace the FSO Safer and will stay there. Euronav will help
operate
the vessel including after the transfer of the oil for several months
afterwards. The
entire team of Euronav is very excited to be able to participate to such project
and
do their utmost to help preventing a possible environmental disaster.

The damaged vessel, the FSO Safer (1976 – 406,639 dwt) is one of the largest
vessels ever built and for more than thirty years has been positioned off the
Yemeni coast. However, since 2015 it has been abandoned without power or
maintenance. It has become a real danger.

The vessel therefore represents an impending environmental disaster prone to
either break up or explosion. The United Nations has put together a co-ordinated

package of salvage operation, management of the FSO Safer and safe handling of
the stored crude.

Hugo De Stoop, CEO of Euronav said: “We are very proud to work with the UN in
this delicate and sensitive operation in providing an appropriate vessel but
also
necessary expertise from our operational staff to support the salvage procedure.
This critical operation requires dedicated support from Euronav for at least
nine
months and reflects our wider sustainability and environmental credentials. The
Ocean is our environment, let’s protect it”.
*
* *
Contact:
Brian Gallagher – Head of IR, Research and Comms & Management Board member

Tel: +44 20 78 70 04 36
Email: IR@euronav.com

Special General meeting: Thursday 23 March 2023
About Euronav NV
Euronav is an independent tanker company engaged in the ocean transportation and
storage of crude oil. The
company is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, and has offices throughout Europe
and Asia. Euronav is listed
on Euronext Brussels and on the NYSE under the symbol EURN. Euronav employs its
fleet both on the spot and
period market. VLCCs on the spot market are traded in the Tankers International
pool of which Euronav is one of
the major partners. Euronav’s owned and operated fleet consists of 1 V-Plus
vessel, 41 VLCCs (with further one
under construction), 21 Suezmaxes (with a further five under construction) and 2
FSO vessels under long term
contract.

Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking
statements. The
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor
protections for
forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide
prospective
information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements
concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance,
and
underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of
historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor
provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this
cautionary
statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe",
"anticipate",
"intends", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "plan", "potential", "may",
"should", "expect",
"pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various
assumptions,
many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without
limitation,
our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in
our
records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that
these
assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently
subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or
impossible to
predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or

accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in our
view, could
cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the
forward-looking
statements include the failure of counterparties to fully perform their
contracts with us,
the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions,
including
fluctuations in charter rates and vessel vales, changes in demand for tanker
vessel
capacity, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker prices,
dry-docking and
insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and
refinancing,
charter counterparty performance, ability to obtain financing and comply with
covenants
in such financing arrangements, changes in governmental rules and regulations or
actions
taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future
litigation, general
domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of
shipping routes due
to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires
and other
factors. Please see our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission
for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.

More information:
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584844_Euronav and UN Press release.pdf