The Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, hit by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea last week, continues to burn, indicating the existence of an oil spill, as confirmed by a U.S. Pentagon spokesperson today.
U.S. Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder reported that two tugboats attempted to approach the tanker, carrying approximately one million barrels of crude oil, but Houthi militants threatened to attack them.
Furthermore, Ryder expressed his concern regarding these ongoing incidents stating that they threaten global and regional trade stability, and endanger the lives of sailors, while also threatening the marine ecosystem of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Arden.
The Sounion is the third ship owned by the Athens-based Delta Tankers that was attacked this month by the terrorist rebels in the Red Sea.
The incident reportedly took place 77 miles west of Al Hudaydah, Yemen. The tanker lost power, while three fires were reported aboard the vessel with its 25 crew members abandoning it with the assistance of the EU naval mission “Shields”.
According to Greece’s Ministry of Shipping, the “Sounion” was transporting crude oil to the Greek port of Corinth, loaded at the port of Basra in Iraq.
The EU naval mission, Operation Shield in the Red Sea, announced that it had urgently evacuated the tanker’s crew while warning of the “environmental risk” posed by the incident due to the oil spill risk.
