The Greek-flagged crude oil tanker Sounion, which was attacked by Yemen’s Houthis last week, is still on fire in the Red Sea and now appears to be leaking oil, the Pentagon has said.
The tanker was targeted last week by multiple projectiles off Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah. The Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, said they were behind the attack.
The Sounion is carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil and if a spill occurs, has the potential to be among the largest from a ship in recorded history.
Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Maj Gen Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday that a third party had tried to send two tugs to help salvage the Sounion, but the Houthis threatened to attack them.
“These are simply reckless acts of terrorism which continue to destabilise global and regional commerce, put the lives of innocent civilian mariners at risk and imperil the vibrant maritime ecosystem in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the Houthis’ own back yard,” Ryder said.
He added that the US military was working with other partners in the region to determine how to help the vessel and mitigate potential environmental impact.
The Iran-aligned group has sunk two ships and killed at least three crew members in their 10-month campaign, which has upended global ocean shipping by forcing vessel owners to avoid the Suez Canal shortcut.
The Houthis said they attacked the tanker in part because Delta Tankers violated its ban on “entry to the ports of occupied Palestine”, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.
The Sounion was the third vessel operated by Athens-based Delta Tankers to be targeted in the Red Sea this month.
The Iran-aligned group has been targeting ships in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The largest recorded ship-source spill was in 1979, when about 287,000 metric tonnes of oil escaped from the Atlantic Empress after it collided with another crude carrier in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Tobago during a storm, according to International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation.