This could be the first serious environmental damage from the Red Sea battle since late last year. The alert was issued by the Pentagon, the US defense unit, after last Friday’s ship The Sounion, which was flying the Greek flag, was hit. After an attack launched by the Yemeni Houthi group.
The tanker was carrying more than a million barrels of crude oil and ended up causing a massive spill after the fire that ended up on it.The ship was mobilised in the Red Sea. The EU’s Operation Aspides rescued the ship’s 29 crew members the next day.
Now, the United States is warning that a “potential environmental disaster” could be imminent. Pentagon press secretary Patrick Ryder said Tuesday that the 274-meter-long ship is still burning and spewing oil, posing a “hazard to navigation.”
According to the Financial Times, the owner, Delta Tankers, said it had already tried to salvage the ship, but to no avail. The European Aspedas operation reported that there were “at least” five visible fires after the explosion, but “no obvious signs” of an oil leak.
This ship is on track to be the third that the Houthis have managed to sink, after the Rubimar and the Tutor, but no previous incident has threatened to cause such widespread environmental damage.
Remember that the Yemeni group claims to be attacking ships with connections to Israel, the US and the UK, in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
