https://arab.news/ver7b
- UKMTO warns other vessels to transit area with caution
- Greek-flagged Sounion, carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude, was attacked last week
AL-MUKALLA: The oil tanker that burst into flames in the Red Sea after an attack by the Houthis remains afloat but has begun to drift, a UK maritime agency said on Wednesday.
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on X that it had “received reports from a passing merchant vessel, that MT SOUNION (IMO: 9312145) remains afloat, but is believed to be drifting in position 1500N 04139E at 0740 UTC.”
It warned ships to take caution while passing near the stricken vessel.
The announcement came as the EU naval mission in the Red Sea — Operation Aspides — reiterated its message that the Sounion posed a dual hazard to the Red Sea.
“All passing vessels in the vicinity are required to proceed with utmost caution, as the M/V SOUNION poses both a navigational risk and a serious and imminent threat of regional pollution,” it said on X.
The mission shared images of flames rising from the ship but said there was no evidence of an oil leak and that it was still moored and not drifting.
Yemen’s Houthi militia attacked the Greek-flagged tanker, which was carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, last week. Its engine was damaged and the crew were forced to evacuate.
The Houthis said the ship was targeted because its parent company broke its restriction on sailing to Israeli ports. The Iran-backed militia has been targeting vessels with links to Israel or heading to Israeli ports in a bid to pressure the country into ending its war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the UN’s Yemen envoy, Hans Grundberg, on Wednesday repeated his call for the Houthis to release UN personnel kidnapped by the militia.
His office issued a statement announcing the completion of his trip to Oman, where he met local officials and the Houthis’ top negotiator Mohammed Abdul Sallam to discuss peace efforts and de-escalation.
“Throughout all his meetings, the special envoy reiterated the UN secretary-general’s urgent call for the immediate and unconditional release of detained UN personnel,” it said.
The Houthis have seized almost 70 Yemeni aid and human rights workers employed by international organizations, including UN agencies and foreign embassies. While the UN, governments and other organizations have appealed for them to be released, the militia has threatened to prosecute them on the charge of spying for the US and Israel.
On Tuesday, the group’s news agency announced that Houthi Foreign Minister Jamal Amer had received the credentials of Ali Mohammed Ramadani as Iran’s new ambassador to Yemen in Sanaa.
Ramadani succeeds Hasan Irlu, who died in Yemen in late 2021.
The Yemeni government has regularly accused Iran, the only nation with a diplomatic presence in Houthi-held Sanaa, of moving Revolutionary Guard commanders into Yemen disguised as diplomats.