The Houthi authorities on Sunday held the United Nations responsible for the delayed arrival of international experts tasked with repairing Yemen's decaying oil tanker Safer.

The UN is taking unilateral decisions on the mission of the experts and justifying the delayed arrival of the experts with a delay in the delivery of materials required to conduct repairs, a statement by Houthi-run Saba news agency said. The Houthis have denied that the group is obstructing the arrival of the experts.

On Thursday, the United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock accused in a briefing to the UN Security Council the group of obstructing efforts to avert the catastrophe of the decaying tanker.

The tanker, moored off Yemen's western coast with more than 1.1 million barrels of crude on board, has not had maintenance since the conflict began six years ago.