After the Houthi attack on the tanker “Sounion”, there is a risk of an oil spill in the Red Sea.
Greece reported to the United Nations signs of an oil slick more than two nautical miles long (over four kilometers) in the area around the damaged ship. The tanker was carrying about a million barrels of crude oil. “Greece urgently calls on all countries and actors involved to resolve the problem as soon as possible,” the country said Friday.
According to original plans, the salvage of the “Sounion” is set to begin within the next 48 hours, people familiar with the process said Friday. It is likely to be complicated by Houthi rebels planting explosives on the ship. Whether the tanker will be towed to a port or its cargo pumped into another vessel can only be decided after an inspection of the “Sounion.”
At the beginning of the week, there were conflicting reports about whether the Sounion’s cargo had already left. Representatives of the EU mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea, Aspides, denied this. The US said the ship was leaking fluid where it was hit. The cargo is not the issue.
The UN was very concerned
However, the UN warned of the risk of an environmental disaster in the Red Sea. The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this was a “serious threat to the environment in the region.” The tanker poses a “huge environmental risk” and “we are very concerned.”
The 274-meter-long “Sounion” was hit by multiple projectiles last week about 77 nautical miles west of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah. The result was a fire on board and the failure of its engines, causing the tanker to drift in the Red Sea and become unable to maneuver. The crew has since abandoned the ship, which is now at anchor. It is still burning.
Yemen’s Houthi militia repeatedly attacks merchant ships off its coast, justifying it as a show of solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza war. Many major shipping companies have largely avoided the Red Sea and the Suez Canal for months because of the Houthi attacks. The Houthis, like Iranian-backed Hamas, recently said they would allow the ship to be salvaged.
However, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam stressed that there was no temporary ceasefire and that the group had only agreed to tow the Greek oil tanker Sounion after several international parties had contacted the group.
Source: Krone
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