Oil tanker abandoned, adrift and ablaze after Red Sea attack

A Greek-flagged oil tanker was left abandoned, adrift and ablaze in the Red Sea following strikes off the Yemeni coast.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations agency on Wednesday reported that a fire had erupted aboard a tanker, which lost engine power and was no longer “under command.” It came after a gunfire attack from two small boats roughly 77 nautical miles west of Yemeni port Hodeidah, which is under the control of the Houthi militant group. The UKMTO did not name the vessels or the perpetrators of the incident.

Greece’s shipping minister Christos Stylianides later named the vessel as oil tanker Sounion and condemned the attack as a “flagrant violation of the rules of international law and a serious threat to the safety of international navigation,” according to a Google-translated statement.

All 25 crew members of the vessels are safe, the minister added.

The vessel is part of the fleet of Greek operator Delta Tankers, which confirmed the Sounion suffered “minor damage” after being involved in a “hostile incident” in the Red Sea in an emailed statement.

The company later issued a statement that the master and crew aboard the Sounion have evacuated the vessel and received naval support. Reuters separately reported that the crew was rescued by the EU’s naval mission Aspides, which confirmed the retrieval in a social media post.

“While approaching the area, the EUNAVFOR ASPIDES ship destroyed an Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) that posed an imminent threat to the ship and the crew. All on board the MV SOUNION were subsequently rescued and are being transported to Djibouti, the nearest safe port of call,” the Aspides mission said.

“Plans are in place to move the vessel to a safer destination where a full assessment (checks and any repairs) can be undertaken,” Delta Tankers said.

The Sounion had last called at Iraq’s crude-loading Basrah terminal, according to MarineTraffic data. The Aspides mission said that Sounion was carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil and now represents a “navigational and environmental hazard,” likely in the event of an oil spill.

“It is essential that everyone in the area exercises caution and refrains from any actions that could lead to a deterioration of the current situation,” it said.

No group has claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack so far, although the Houthi faction has carried out swathes of similar strikes against commercial ships, citing solidarity with the Palestinian cause amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

The Yemeni group previously claimed only to be directly targeting ships owned by, or linked to, Israel, the U.S. or the U.K., but has repeatedly attacked vessels that were not connected to these nations.

The Houthi offensives — which have so far caused at least two ships to sink — have disrupted a critical trade route linking Europe and Asia-Pacific, with several vessels opting for a lengthier Cape Horn route that can add up to 14 sailing days to the journey.

The disruptions have not led to the suspension of westbound shipments from the oil-rich Middle Eastern region, nor caused a long-lasting premium on oil futures prices.