Salvage complete of tanker at center of oil spill scare after being hit by Houthi rebels in Red Sea

This undated photograph released by the backstage information steadfast Ambrey shows the lipid tanker Sounion burning successful the Red Sea. [Ambrey via AP]

A Greek-flagged lipid tanker that burned for weeks successful the Red Sea aft being attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and threatening a monolithic lipid spill has been salvaged, a information steadfast said Friday.

The MV Sounion Suezmax tanker had been a disaster-in-waiting successful the waterway, with 1 cardinal barrels of crude lipid aboard that had been struck and aboriginal sabotaged with explosives by the Houthis arsenic portion of their run implicit the Israel-Hamas war successful the Gaza Strip.

Separately connected Friday, Israel’s subject said it again struck what it called Houthi subject infrastructure successful Yemen, including the Hizaz powerfulness station and the Hodeidah and Ras Isa ports connected the west coast. Houthi-controlled media reported 1 worker dormant and six different radical injured astatine the Ras Isa port, a time aft the Iranian-backed Houthis fired drones astatine Israel successful the latest of escalating attacks.

There was nary contiguous remark connected the Sounion tanker from the Houthis, who person held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, for implicit a decennary and person been battling a Saudi-led conjugation backing the country’s exiled authorities for astir arsenic long.

It took months for salvagers to tow the Sounion away, extinguish the fires and offload the remaining crude oil.

“Over three challenging weeks, the fires were extinguished, cargo tanks patched and pressurized with inert gas, and the vessel declared safe,” said backstage information steadfast Ambrey, which helped pb the effect alongside a European naval unit and salvagers. “In aboriginal October, she was towed northbound to Suez for removal of her cargo, which has present been successfully completed.”

The US State Department had warned that a spill from the Sounion would person been “four times the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster” successful 1989 disconnected Alaska.

The Houthis initially attacked the Greek-flagged Sounion tanker connected August 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer operating arsenic portion of the European Union’s Operation Aspides rescued its unit of 25 Filipinos and Russians, arsenic well arsenic 4 backstage information personnel, aft they abandoned the vessel and took them to adjacent Djibouti.

The Houthis aboriginal released footage showing they planted explosives connected committee the Sounion and ignited them successful a propaganda video, something the rebels person done earlier successful their campaign.

The rebels person targeted some 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war successful Gaza started successful October 2023.

They seized 1 vessel and sank two successful the run that has besides killed 4 sailors. Other missiles and drones person either been intercepted by a US-led conjugation successful the Red Sea oregon failed to scope their targets, which person included Western subject vessels arsenic well.

The rebels support that they target ships linked to Israel, the US oregon the UK to unit an extremity to Israel’s run against Hamas successful Gaza. However, galore of the ships attacked person small oregon nary transportation to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

The tempo of Houthi attacks has slowed successful caller weeks, peculiarly involving ships astatine sea. However, they person continued to motorboat drones and missiles targeting Israel. [AP]