Greek-flagged Red Sea tanker towed to safety
Sounion carrying around 150,000 tons of crude caught fire after being hit by Houthis
Athens: A Greek tanker abandoned after Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck it in August, threatening environmental disaster with more than a million barrels of oil on board, has been towed to safety, EU maritime safety body Aspides said Monday.
Aspides said “private actors” had completed the challenging salvage operation of the Greek-flagged vessel Sounion but added it would continue to monitor the situation.
Had the vessel broken up or exploded, it could have caused an oil spill four times larger than that caused by the Exxon Valdez in 1989 off Alaska, experts had warned.
The Sounion, carrying around 150,000 tons of crude, caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeida, a rebel-held port city.
The following day its 25-strong mostly Filipino crew were rescued by a French frigate from the Aspides mission.
Days later, the rebels claimed to have detonated charges on the ship’s deck, sparking new fires.
The EU naval force was formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthi rebels.
The Houthis have waged a campaign against international shipping that they say is intended to show solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Since November, Iranian-backed Houthi attacks have caused the sinking of two ships and the deaths of at least four crew members.
The Houthis have been firing drones and missiles at ships in the vital commercial route, saying they are targeting vessels linked to Israel, the US and Britain.
With those attacks disrupting commercial shipping in a zone vital for global maritime trade, the United States, with the support of allies led by Britain, has carried out repeated airstrikes on rebel bases in Yemen.