The oil plattform 'Atwood Achiever' could arrive occupied Western Sahara Friday 15 November. There it will do the first drilling in occupied territory, ever.
In two to three days, the vessel 'Atwood Achiever' will enter the waters of occupied Western Sahara. A few weeks later, the drilling will commence.
The platform will most probably arrive Western Sahara waters on Friday, 15 November 2014, depending on the length of the stop-over offshore Senegal.
It was last seen departing from Namibia two weeks ago (see video below).
The vessel has sailed directly from there in the direction Western Sahara and is now offshore the Senegalese city of Saint Louis, where it is apparently bunkering supplies. It is accompanied by two anchor handling/supply vessels, Eland (IMO 9653757) and Springbok (IMO 9683996) who have sailed in from Mauritanian waters. The two latter vessels are owned by US company Edison Chouest Offshore LLC.
Any new oil exploration in Western Sahara is in violation of international law, according to the UN. The people of the territory protest the engagement, which the operator, Kosmos Energy, is undertaking in partnership with the occupying power of Morocco. Read more about the controversial and illegal oil programme here in our report A Platform for Conflict.
Both supply vessels, Eland and Springbok, sailed southwards from Mauritanian waters today down to Saint Louis to assist the vessel.
Swedish hydrogen company embraces Morocco’s position on Western Sahara
S2H2+Bm has publicly welcomed Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara, while refusing to clarify whether its planned green hydrogen investments will take place in the occupied territory.
Guterres reminds Morocco: Self-determination still stands
In one of his final statements as UN Secretary-General, António Guterres has made an unequivocal point: the end of MINURSO does not extinguish the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination. It is a reminder that Morocco cannot declare the Western Sahara question closed simply because the UN mission is leaving.
Morocco allocates vast tracts of occupied Western Sahara
Moroccan budget documents released in late October reveal that the kingdom allocated tens of thousands of hectares of land in occupied Western Sahara to investment projects.
When countries defend self-determination while voting against it
Our analysis of yesterday's UN Security Council vote on Western Sahara reveals a striking gap between what some governments said about the Saharawi people's right to self-determination and the resolution they voted to support.