Houthis said to okay salvage of burning tanker after setting off bombs on ship
Footage released by Iran-backed group shows detonation of at least 6 explosive devices on deck, sparking blaze that now threatens to decimate Red Sea ecosystem; EU says no leak yet
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have agreed to allow tugboats and rescue ships to assist a Greek-flagged oil tanker that it set ablaze in the Red Sea, Iran said late Wednesday, amid concerns that it could begin leaking oil, causing a massive environmental catastrophe.
However, the Houthis, who are believed to have blocked an earlier attempt to salvage the vessel, did not offer specific details. On Thursday the group released footage of its fighters setting off bombs aboard the tanker after it was abandoned, and a European Union mission said the ship was not yet leaking oil, as diplomats scrambled to find a solution for the looming environmental disaster.
The Sounion carried some 1 million barrels of oil when the Houthis initially attacked it on August 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat.
A French destroyer operating as part of Operation Aspides rescued the Sounion’s crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, and took them to nearby Djibouti.
Days later, monitors reported that several fires had broken out on the ship, apparently the result of Houthi bombs planted on it.
Iran’s UN mission said Wednesday that following the fire on the Sounion “and the subsequent environmental hazards,” several countries it didn’t identify reached out to the Houthis “requesting a temporary truce for the entry of tugboats and rescue ships into the incident area.”
“Ansar Allah has consented to this,” the Iranian mission said, using another name for the Houthis.
It offered no further details, nor did the Houthis, who have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea since the outbreak of war in Gaza, claiming they are doing so in support of Hamas.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam, in comments carried by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, said late Wednesday that the attack showed how serious the rebels took their campaign against shipping.
“After several international parties contacted us, especially the European ones, they were allowed to tow the burning oil ship Sounion,” Abdul-Salam said, without giving further details.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said an unidentified “third party” that tried to send two tugboats to the stricken Sounion was blocked by the Houthis.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that the Houthis’ actions demonstrate “their blatant disregard for not only human life, but also for the potential environmental catastrophe that this presents.”
Western countries and the United Nations have warned any oil spill from the Sounion could devastate the coral reefs and wildlife that call the Red Sea home.
The EU’s Red Sea naval mission Aspides said on Thursday that no oil spill has been detected on the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea, despite “multiple fires” detected on the main deck of the vessel.
It said the Sounion was still anchored and not drifting.
Greece’s foreign minister said on Thursday he had been in touch with his Saudi counterpart as part of intensive efforts to avert an environmental disaster.
“There is a significant diplomatic endeavor underway among countries and Greece, so we can avert any potential ecological disaster,” George Gerapetritis said on arrival at an informal EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
The attack on the Sounion capped the most serious attack in weeks by the Houthis in their campaign disrupting the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.
In footage released Thursday by the group, masked Houthi fighters carrying Kalashnikov-style rifles can be seen boarding the Sounion after it was abandoned, then rigging explosives over hatches on its deck leading to the oil tankers below.
مشاهد اقتحام وإحراق السفينة اليونانية (SOUNION) في البحر الأحمر والتي قامت الشركة المالكة لها بانتهاك قرار حظر الدخول إلى موانئ فلسطين المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/yGKgUNaIuh
— العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) August 29, 2024
At least six simultaneous blasts could be seen in the footage as the fighters were heard chanting their motto: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the new Houthi footage.
Ryder said Tuesday that the Sounion appeared to be leaking oil. A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, later said the ship was leaking an unidentified substance.
A million-barrel oil spill would be one of the largest from a ship in history, threatening to destroy the area’s fishing industry and regional ecosystems, government officials have warned.
The Houthis in their campaign have seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.
The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force Israel to quit its war against Hamas in Gaza, launched when Hamas-led terrorists carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.
Many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
In the case of the Sounion, the Houthis have claimed the Greek company operating the vessel had other ships serving Israel. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational organization overseen by the US Navy, assessed that the Sounion “has no direct association with Israel, US or UK within the company business structure” though other ships had “visited Israel in the recent past.”
