DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Greek-flagged oil tanker repeatedly attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea remains on fire but has not caused a major oil leak into the waterway, a European Union naval command said Monday.
The attack on the Sounion is the most serious in weeks by the rebels, who continue to target ships using the Red Sea corridor because of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attacks have disrupted $1 trillion in trade that normally passes through the region, as well as halting some aid deliveries to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.
Images released by the European Union’s Operation Aspides, which is tasked with protecting shipping in the area, showed smoke rising from several points along the Sounion’s deck and bridge on Sunday. Fires were seen in at least nine different locations on the deck of the ship, which had been loaded with 150,000 tonnes of Iraqi crude oil, or about 1 million barrels. Flames appeared near the hatches of the tanker’s oil tanks.
“So far, there are no clear signs of an oil spill,” the EU mission said. The Sounion “poses both a danger to navigation and an imminent environmental hazard. This situation underlines that this type of attack poses a threat not only to freedom of navigation, but also to the lives of seafarers, the environment and, consequently, to the lives of all citizens living in this area.”
The U.S. State Department has also warned of the ecological danger facing the Red Sea, which is home to coral reefs and other natural and wildlife habitats. Images showing explosions aboard the Sounion, released earlier by the Houthis and later analyzed by The Associated Press, suggest that the rebels again boarded an abandoned ship and rigged it with explosives in an attempt to sink it.
“While the crew has been evacuated, the Houthis appear determined to sink the ship and its cargo at sea,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement Saturday. “With these attacks, the Houthis have made clear their willingness to destroy the fishing industry and regional ecosystems that Yemenis and other communities in the region depend on for their livelihoods, just as they have jeopardized the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to the region through their reckless attacks.”
For its part, the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel highlighted the EU photographs and described the Sounion as being the target of “punishment for the company that owns the ship for violating the decision to deny access to ports” of Israel.
The Sounion was the target of repeated attacks last week by the Houthis. A French destroyer operating as part of Operation Aspides later rescued the Sounion’s crew, comprising 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, and took them to nearby Djibouti.
The Houthis have targeted more than 80 ships with missiles and drones since the Gaza war began in October, seizing one ship and sinking two in a campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or have failed to hit their targets.
The rebels say they are targeting ships linked to Israel, the United States or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
