Houthis allow tug boats to reach damaged Red Sea oil tanker

Vessel operator Delta Tankers is attempting to move the burning Greek-flagged MV Sounion, which is carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude

Yemen's Houthis have agreed to allow tugboats and rescue ships to access the damaged crude oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea a week after they attacked it. EPA

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Yemen's Houthi rebels said they have allowed tug boats to reach a damaged Greek-flagged oil tanker that they attacked in the Red Sea last week.

The MV Sounion was carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude and caught fire after being attacked on August 21, the EU's naval mission in the Red Sea reported. The mission has warned the vessel “posed a serious and imminent threat of regional pollution”.

Houthi spokesman Muhammad Abdel Salam said the group had allowed the ship to be towed after several international requests, including from European nations.

The rebels' statement came after the Pentagon said the tanker appeared to be leaking oil.

The EU naval mission disputed this, however. “There’s no oil spill and the ship is still anchored and not drifting,” it said. Fires had been detected on several parts of the main deck, the mission added.

It said a spill would be a “catastrophic environmental crisis” and that EU forces were on standby for “any course of action”.

The ship came under fire from small boats before being hit by three projectiles, leaving it stranded, the UK's Maritime Trade Operations said.

The 25-member crew was rescued by a warship from the EU mission, which was sent to the region after the Iran-backed Houthis started attacking ships passing through the Red Sea in November as a response to Israel's war in Gaza.

The Houthi statement came hours after Iran's mission to the UN said the vessel would be towed “in consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns”.

“The failure to provide aid and prevent an oil spill in the Red Sea stems from the negligence of certain countries, rather than concerns over the possibility of being targeted,” the Iranian mission said.

It claimed the vessel's cargo was bound for Israel – an accusation the Houthis have used as a reason for attacking ships.

Mr Abdel Salam said the attack on the MV Sounion “is an example of Yemen's seriousness in targeting any ship that violates the Yemeni embargo decision, that prohibits any ship from crossing to the ports of occupied Palestine”.

All shipping companies linked to Israel “should realise their ships will remain vulnerable to Yemeni strikes wherever the [Houthis] can reach them until the aggression stops and the siege on Gaza is lifted”, he said.

Vessel operator Delta Tankers told The National it was doing everything it could to move the ship but declined to provide further information, citing security concerns.

Greece's Foreign Minister on Thursday said he had been in touch with his Saudi counterpart as part of discussions to avert any environmental damage.

"There is a significant diplomatic endeavour under way among countries and Greece so we can avert any potential ecological disaster," Giorgos Gerapetritis said on arrival at an informal EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.

"I myself had a conversation yesterday with [Prince Faisal bin Farhan] the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia to see how this could be achieved in the safest possible manner," he said.

It is not the first time a Houthi attack has created an environmental risk. In July, an oil slick more than 200km long developed after an attack on the Liberian-flagged Chios Lion oil tanker, damaging coral reefs in the area.

Various countries have also poured millions into funding a UN effort to prevent oil spilling from the FSO Safer, a storage vessel off the coast of Hodeidah province in Yemen. The ship has been described as a “ticking time bomb” because of a lack of proper maintenance since it fell under Houthi control in 2015.

The Houthis have escalated attacks on shipping despite US, UK and Israeli strikes on its weapons launch and storage sites since January. In June, the EU mission said it would need to double its fleet to counter the attacks.