By Lefteris Papadimas, Idrees Ali and Lisa Baertlein
ATHENS (Reuters) – As salvage operations began on an abandoned Greek-flagged oil tanker with deck fires still burning from Houthi rebel attacks, the EU’s Aspides naval mission in the Red Sea said on Thursday no oil leak had been discovered.
Yemen’s Houthi militants carried out multiple attacks, including planting bombs on the already disabled 274.2-meter Sounion, which is loaded with about 1 million barrels of oil. On Wednesday, Iran-linked militants said they would allow rescue crews to move the ship – which has been on fire since August 23 – to safety.
“It seems, at least for now, that cooler heads are prevailing,” said Lars Jensen, CEO of industry consultancy Vespucci Maritime, on LinkedIn.
The Houthis have sunk two ships in their 10-month drone and missile campaign against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The attacks are an act of solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and are likely to continue if a ceasefire is not reached.
The EU mission, in coordination with European authorities and neighboring countries, pledged to “facilitate every course of action” to prevent a catastrophic environmental crisis and save Sounion.
On Thursday, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the Sounion’s barrels were intact, the ship itself was leaking some oil from where it was struck, and several fires were still raging.
The Houthis’ decision to allow rescue crews safe access to the Sounion came after several countries raised humanitarian and environmental concerns. The move could help prevent what experts warned would be a devastating spill of 150,000 tons of crude oil in the Red Sea.
According to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, a spill of that volume would be more than half the largest ever recorded from a ship: 287,000 tons from the Atlantic Empress in 1979.
Despite the cessation of hostilities, risks to crews, ships and the environment from Houthi attacks remain.
“Even if the Sounion can be towed away and we avoid an environmental disaster, the threat has not disappeared,” Jensen said, adding that dozens of oil tankers and other merchant ships are still operating in high-risk areas of the Red Sea. and the Gulf of Aden.
