Greek-flagged ship on fire since Aug 23 after Houthi attack, EU naval mission says
PHOTO CAPTION: Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, on the Red Sea, August 25, 2024. Yemen's Houthis said they attacked the Sounion in the Red Sea. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via REUTERS
By Ahmed Elimam
(Reuters) -The Greek-flagged ship Sounion has been on fire since Aug. 23 after an attack by Yemen's Houthis with no obvious signs of an oil spill, EU Red Sea naval mission Aspides said in a post on X on Monday.
The EU mission published photos dated Sunday showing fire and smoke coming out of the vessel's main deck.
Houthis, who control Yemen's most populous regions, said on Thursday that they attacked the Sounion oil tanker in the Red Sea. The Iran-aligned group has been attacking ships in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Fires were observed on at least five locations on the main deck of the vessel, Aspides said. Additionally, part of the superstructure is on fire too.
Satellite image captured by European Space Agency’s Copernicus Satellite 2 showed smoke visible at sea in the vicinity where Sounion was last detected.
Reuters was able to locate the image from matching the last location for MV Sounion seen from LSEG ship tracker.
Aspides said on Thursday that the oil tanker carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil poses an environmental hazard.
(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam and Nayera Abdallah in Dubai, Adam Makary in Cairo, Nur-Azna Sanusi in Singapore; Editing by Michael Georgy and Shri Navaratnam)
