Aerial photo of a ship at sea.
Suriyapong Thongsawang | Moments | Getty Images
Three fires have broken out on a Greek-flagged oil tanker in the Red Sea, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Authority said on Friday, a day after rescuers evacuated the vessel’s crew following an accident. Yemen Houthi Rebel Attack.
The Iran-aligned Houthi group, which controls Yemen’s most populous areas, said on Thursday it had attacked the Sounion oil tanker as part of a 10-month campaign against commercial shipping supporting Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Houthis first damaged the tanker on Wednesday with repeated attacks that caused a fire and the loss of engine power. A European warship later rescued the ship’s 25-man crew. A maritime security source told Reuters on Thursday that the unmanned ship was anchored between Yemen and Eritrea.
On Friday, UKMTO said in a statement that it had received reports of three fires on the vessel, which “appears to be drifting.” Later in the day, the Houthis posted a video on social media that they said showed them setting the tanker on fire.
The damaged tanker, carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, poses an environmental risk, the EU Red Sea naval mission Aspides said.
“A potential oil spill could have catastrophic consequences for the region’s marine environment,” the Djibouti Ports and Free Trade Zone Authority said in a post on social media site X on Friday.
According to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, the largest oil spill on record occurred in 1979, when about 287,000 tons of oil spilled from the Atlantic Empress after it collided with another tanker in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Tobago during a storm.
The Sounion is the third ship operated by Athens-based Delta Tankers to be attacked by the Houthis this month.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised speech that the force attacked the tanker partly because the Delta Tankers had violated a ban on “entering the ports of occupied Palestine”.
“Delta Tankers is doing everything possible to move the vessel (and cargo). For security reasons, we are unable to comment further,” the company said in a statement on Friday.
