WAR IS ECOCIDE
By AFP
September 2, 2024
A picture released by Yemen's Huthi Ansarullah Media Centre after the rebels said they had detonated explosives on the Sounion -
Copyright ANSARULLAH MEDIA CENTRE/AFP/File -
A rescue mission was underway Monday for an oil tanker still ablaze after being attacked by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen last month, according to US Central Command.
The Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion was hit by the Huthis off the coast of Hodeida on August 21 while carrying 150,000 metric tons of crude oil.
In a post on X, CENTCOM said “salvage efforts are underway” in the southern Red Sea for the disabled vessel, “which is still on fire and threatens the possibility of a major environmental disaster.”
The Iran-backed rebels said they had booby-trapped and detonated charges on the ship.
CENTCOM condemned such Huthi attacks as “reckless” and promised to “continue to work with international partners and allies” to protect trade and mitigate environmental impacts in the region.
The European Union’s Red Sea naval mission, Aspides, said earlier in the day that it would “provide protection to the tug boats, that will deal with the salvage operation and facilitate their efforts to prevent an environmental disaster,” according to a post on X.
“Several fires continue to burn on the vessel’s main deck,” the mission added, noting that there were “no visible signs of an oil spill.”
The Sounion’s crew, made up of 23 Filipinos and two Russians, was rescued the day after the attack by a French frigate serving with Aspides.
The EU naval force was formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by the Huthi rebels, who have waged a campaign against international shipping that they say is intended to show solidarity with Palestinian group Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, two other ships were struck in attacks off the coast of Yemen on Monday.
CENTCOM reported the two ships were both crude oil tankers, one flagged by Panama and the other flagged by Saudi Arabia, with the latter vessel carrying approximately two million barrels of crude oil.
A rescue mission was underway Monday for an oil tanker still ablaze after being attacked by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen last month, according to US Central Command.
The Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion was hit by the Huthis off the coast of Hodeida on August 21 while carrying 150,000 metric tons of crude oil.
In a post on X, CENTCOM said “salvage efforts are underway” in the southern Red Sea for the disabled vessel, “which is still on fire and threatens the possibility of a major environmental disaster.”
The Iran-backed rebels said they had booby-trapped and detonated charges on the ship.
CENTCOM condemned such Huthi attacks as “reckless” and promised to “continue to work with international partners and allies” to protect trade and mitigate environmental impacts in the region.
The European Union’s Red Sea naval mission, Aspides, said earlier in the day that it would “provide protection to the tug boats, that will deal with the salvage operation and facilitate their efforts to prevent an environmental disaster,” according to a post on X.
“Several fires continue to burn on the vessel’s main deck,” the mission added, noting that there were “no visible signs of an oil spill.”
The Sounion’s crew, made up of 23 Filipinos and two Russians, was rescued the day after the attack by a French frigate serving with Aspides.
The EU naval force was formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by the Huthi rebels, who have waged a campaign against international shipping that they say is intended to show solidarity with Palestinian group Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, two other ships were struck in attacks off the coast of Yemen on Monday.
CENTCOM reported the two ships were both crude oil tankers, one flagged by Panama and the other flagged by Saudi Arabia, with the latter vessel carrying approximately two million barrels of crude oil.
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A Houthi soldier stands alert in front of the Israeli Galaxy ship which was seized by the Houthis, in the port of Saleef, near Hodeidah, Yemen, Sunday, May 12, 2024.
(AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Asharq Al Awsat
2 September 2024
AD ـ 28 Safar 1446 AH
Suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants targeted two ships in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, near where crews hope to salvage a tanker loaded with oil and still ablaze after another assault by the group.
Suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants targeted two ships in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, near where crews hope to salvage a tanker loaded with oil and still ablaze after another assault by the group.
The attacks are believed to be the latest in the Iranian-backed group’s campaign that has disrupted the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip as well as halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.
Meanwhile, the efforts to salvage the still-burning Sounion seek to head off the potential ecological disaster posed by its cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil.
In Monday's first assault, two projectiles hit the vessel, and a third explosion occurred near the ship, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
“Damage control is underway,” the UKMTO said. “There are no casualties onboard and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.”
The timing of the attack and coordinates offered by the UKMTO corresponded to the reported path of the Panama-flagged oil tanker Blue Lagoon I, now traveling south through the Red Sea to an unlisted destination. The Blue Lagoon I was coming from Russia's port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea and had been broadcasting that it had Russian-origin cargo on board.
In recent months, the Blue Lagoon I traveled to India, which gets more than 40% of its oil imports from Russia despite Moscow's ongoing war on Ukraine and the international sanctions it faces over it.
The Greek-based firm operating the ship could not be immediately reached.
Later Monday morning, the UKMTO reported a second attack off the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeida. The private security firm Ambrey said an aerial drone hit a merchant ship, though no damage or injuries were reported. The attack happened only a few kilometers (miles) from where the Blue Lagoon I attack occurred, Ambrey said.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks. However, it can take the group hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.
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