By Jonathan Saul and Mohammed Ghobari
LONDON/ADEN (Reuters) – Insurance costs for ships sailing through the Red Sea have almost doubled after Yemen’s Houthis attacked a tanker that appeared to be leaking oil. Environmental fears over the trade route are growing, industry sources said on Wednesday.
Iran-linked Houthi militants first launched aerial drone and missile attacks on the waterway in November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. In more than 70 attacks, they sank two ships, seized another and killed at least three seafarers.
In the latest escalation, the Greek-flagged Sounion tanker was attacked by multiple projectiles last week and appears to be leaking oil, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
A third party had tried to send two tugboats to help rescue the Sounion, but the Houthis threatened to attack them, the Pentagon added.
Insurance industry sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that additional war risk premiums paid when ships transit the Red Sea were up to 0.75% of the ship, compared with 0.4% before the attack, although these were higher by 1%. in February, according to industry assessments of risk levels.
The latest increase in costs could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a trip through the region, although rates for Chinese-owned ships have been up to 50% lower since February due to the lower risk of being targeted, sources said.
One industry source said some insurers are currently not offering cover in the region due to the potential risk of the tanker sinking.
An official from the European Union’s Aspides naval mission cited a letter sent to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers on August 28 saying it was assessing the “feasibility of protective measures” such as towing the Sounion.
“This situation poses a serious and imminent threat of regional pollution, with coastal states at greatest risk,” the letter said.
ONE MILLION BARRELS OF RAW AND FIRE
A maritime safety source said on Wednesday that a fire was burning aboard the tanker, which was carrying a cargo of 1 million barrels.
“Delta Tankers is doing everything it can to move the ship (and cargo),” Sounion’s manager told Reuters separately.
“For security reasons we cannot comment further.”
The Houthis said they attacked the tanker in part because Delta Tankers violated the ban on “access to the ports of occupied Palestine,” Houthis military spokesman Yahya Saree had said in a televised address.
A Houthi source also told Reuters on Wednesday that the ship was on fire, adding that there would be no leak or pollution in the sea as a result.
While the crew was evacuated, the Houthis “seemed determined to sink the ship and its cargo at sea,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on August 24.
The Sounion was the third ship of the Athens-based Delta Tankers to be attacked in the Red Sea this month. The attack caused a fire on board, which the crew extinguished, Delta Tankers said in an earlier statement.
A major oil spill would devastate fishing communities on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, while half a million Yemenis work in that sector, the United Nations said in a report last year.
“Entire communities would be exposed to life-threatening toxins,” the UN said.
