LONDON: A Greek oil tanker is stuck in the Red Sea after it was attacked by Houthi rebels, an Iran-backed militia group that controls swathes of northern Yemen and has disrupted crucial shipping lanes in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The MV Delta Sounion has been immobilised for more than a week, making it a sitting duck for further attacks while also raising fears of an environmental disaster.The tanker was carrying the equivalent of 1 million barrels of crude oil. The Sounion, its crew evacuated, currently sits in waters patrolled by Houthi vessels. The Houthis have said they will allow a rescue mission, but moving the ship will be precarious. International naval forces and agencies are working together to determine how to move the nearly 900-foot-long tanker.
The Sounion was sailing through the southern Red Sea when it came under attack from vessels controlled by Houthi fighters Aug 21. No crew members were killed or injured, but the ship lost engine power during the attack, the naval mission said on social media. The crew of 23 Filipino and two Russian sailors was evacuated to Djibouti. The Sounion, flying a Greek flag and managed by Athens-based Delta Tankers, had been travelling from Iraq to Greece. Now, it poses a navigational hazard to other ships passing through the area, the Pentagon said.
The cargo contains 150,000 tons of crude oil, or over 1 million barrels. What’s worse, the stranded ship has been on fire, posing an “imminent threat of regional pollution”, the EU naval mission said. On Wednesday, aerial images of the Sounion showed several fires on the deck. A potential oil spill of 4.1 km in length has been detected in the area matching the location of the Sounion, Greece said in a letter circulated through the UN’s shipping agency on Friday. The US state department has said the spill of 1 million barrels of oil would be four times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.
The MV Delta Sounion has been immobilised for more than a week, making it a sitting duck for further attacks while also raising fears of an environmental disaster.The tanker was carrying the equivalent of 1 million barrels of crude oil. The Sounion, its crew evacuated, currently sits in waters patrolled by Houthi vessels. The Houthis have said they will allow a rescue mission, but moving the ship will be precarious. International naval forces and agencies are working together to determine how to move the nearly 900-foot-long tanker.
The Sounion was sailing through the southern Red Sea when it came under attack from vessels controlled by Houthi fighters Aug 21. No crew members were killed or injured, but the ship lost engine power during the attack, the naval mission said on social media. The crew of 23 Filipino and two Russian sailors was evacuated to Djibouti. The Sounion, flying a Greek flag and managed by Athens-based Delta Tankers, had been travelling from Iraq to Greece. Now, it poses a navigational hazard to other ships passing through the area, the Pentagon said.
The cargo contains 150,000 tons of crude oil, or over 1 million barrels. What’s worse, the stranded ship has been on fire, posing an “imminent threat of regional pollution”, the EU naval mission said. On Wednesday, aerial images of the Sounion showed several fires on the deck. A potential oil spill of 4.1 km in length has been detected in the area matching the location of the Sounion, Greece said in a letter circulated through the UN’s shipping agency on Friday. The US state department has said the spill of 1 million barrels of oil would be four times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.
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