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The attacks on the MT Sounion refers to Houthi attacks on a Greek-registered oil tanker and the resulting spillage of crude oil into the Red Sea, that at the time of the spill was carrying approximately 150,000 tons of petroleum cargo. The oil spill was caused by Houthi explosions targeting the ship, which caused the ship to burn and start spilling flaming crude oil into the ocean which the European Union Aspides military task force stated posed a severe environmental risk to the complex biodiversity of the marine region.[2]
| August 2024 oil spill caused by attacks on the tanker Sounion | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Red Sea, "77 nautical miles to the West of Al Hudaydah" |
| Coordinates | 14°59′24.468″N 41°39′17.28″E[1] |
| Date | 22 August 2024 |
| Cause | |
| Cause | Destruction of the oil tanker Sounion by Houthi militants |
| Operator | Delta Tankers |
| Spill characteristics | |
| Volume | Up to 150,000 tons (~1 million barrels) of petroleum |
The Red Sea crisis[3][4] began on 19 October 2023, when the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen launched missiles and armed drones at Israel, demanding an end to the invasion of the Gaza Strip.[5][6] The Houthis have since seized and launched aerial attacks against dozens of merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea, drawing hundreds of air strikes on missile sites and other targets by US and allied forces.[7] The crisis is linked to the Israel–Hamas war, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict, the Iran–United States proxy conflict, and the Yemeni crisis.[8]
The Houthi movement's militants, who oppose Yemen's internationally recognized government, have since 2014 controlled a considerable swath of the country's territory along the Red Sea. Shortly after the beginning of the Israel–Hamas war, the Hamas-allied group began to launch missiles and drones at Israel. Houthi militants have also fired on various countries' merchant vessels in the Red Sea, and particularly in the Bab-el-Mandeb—the southern maritime gateway to the Suez Canal of Egypt and therefore a chokepoint of the global economy. The group has declared that they will not stop until Israel ceases its war on Hamas.[5][9]
The Houthis says they consider any Israel-linked ship as a target,[10][3][4] including US and UK warships, but they have also indiscriminately attacked the ships of many nations.[11][12] From October 2023 to March 2024, the Houthis attacked more than 60 vessels in the Red Sea.[13] To avoid attack, hundreds of commercial vessels have been rerouted to sail around South Africa.[14]
The Houthis' Red Sea attacks have drawn a military response from a number of countries. In January 2024, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2722, condemning the Houthi attacks and affirming freedom of navigation.[13] The United States-led Operation Prosperity Guardian was launched to protect Red Sea shipping. Since 12 January, the US and UK have led coalition air and missile strikes against the Houthis, while other countries are independently patrolling the waters near Yemen, attacking Houthi vessels in the Red Sea.[15] Undaunted, in May, Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said, "We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach".[16]MT Sounion
 Sounion leaving Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2007 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sounion |
| Owner | Delta Tankers |
| Port of registry |  Greece |
| Completed | 2006 |
| Identification |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Crude oil tanker |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 274 m (898 ft 11 in) |
| Beam | 50.06 m (164 ft 3 in) |
| Draught | 11 m (36 ft 1 in) |
| Crew | 25 |
MT Sounion is a crude oil tanker built in November 2006 by the South Korea-based shipbuilder HD Hyundai Samho. Greek-flagged, her homeport is in Piraeus.[17][18][19] She is operated by the Athens-based Delta Tankers, whose ships Delta Blue and Delta Atlantica had previously come under attack by the Houthis.[20]
On 21 August 2024, the 274-meter (898 ft 11 in)-long oil tanker Sounion, owned by Delta Tankers and crewed by 25 Filipinos and Russians, with four security personnel, was targeted by Houthi militants while near the mouth of the Red Sea. Two Houthi fast attack craft engaged in a firefight with the Sounion armed guards before three projectiles struck the tanker.[21] The initial attack caused a fire on board that was extinguished, but also resulted in engine failure and the loss of propulsion.[22][23] The tanker was en route from Basrah, Iraq to the oil refinery at Agioi Theodoroi in Greece.[24] The entire crew was rescued by the European Union Aspides naval military operation while the ship was drifting about 77 nautical miles (143 km; 89 mi) to the west of Al Hudaydah port, using the French frigate Chevalier Paul to evacuate the crew to nearby Djibouti on 22 August 2024.[2][25] While engaged in rescue operations, the Chevalier Paul sighted an approaching Houthi explosive boat and successfully engaged and destroyed it with the frigate's 20 mm Narwhal guns.[26]
Explosions
On 23 August, Houthis released videos showing their fighters boarding the ship and subsequent footage from a distance showing three simultaneous massive explosions on the ship, as Houthi militants chanted the slogan of the Houthi movement. The source of the explosions appeared to be explosives planted on the ship by the Houthis rather than missile or drone strikes, due to the simultaneous explosions.[27] The deliberate destruction of an abandoned ship marked an apparent shift in Houthi tactics towards the Red Sea crisis compared to its prior sinking of Rubymar in February 2024 and Tutor in June 2024.[2]
The Aspides task force stated on 23 August that the explosions created a "significant environmental threat due to the large volume of crude oil on board" that could severely damage the diverse marine ecosystem in the Red Sea, and warned all nearby ships not to take any actions that could cause the situation to deteriorate. Video taken by Houthi militants of the ship on fire showed flaming oil pouring into the sea from the top and side of the tanker shortly following the explosions.[27] Sounion was carrying approximately 150,000 tons of petroleum cargo at the time of the explosions, which was about the maximum amount it could carry.[2] On the night of 23 August, the Royal Navy noted that the fires were still burning as the vessel continued drifting.[22]
NASA satellite imaging taken at 10:04 a.m. UTC on 25 August indicated thermal anomalies in the Red Sea at 14° 59' 24.468"N 41° 39' 17.28"E, located north of the space roughly in between Al Hudaydah in Yemen and Tiyo in Eritrea. These readings implied the continuous burning of the ship and its petroleum cargo, as well as prolonged damage to the ship following the three large explosions.[1]
United States Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller stated that the damage to the ship could spill "a million barrels of oil into the Red Sea, an amount four times that in the Exxon Valdez disaster".[2][28] On 27 August, The Pentagon reported that the tanker appeared to be leaking oil, and was still on fire since the Houthi-conducted explosions on 22 August.[29]
Initial attempts by two third-party boats to pull the tanker to shore were repelled by Houthi militants threatening to attack them.[29] On 28 August, Iran's envoy to the United Nations announced that the Houthis agreed to a "temporary truce" to allow tugboats and rescue boats to reach the tanker. The Houthis said that no truce was established but that they would allow for the tanker to be rescued due to humanitarian and environmental concerns.[30]
On 31 August, Houthis said that tug boats were expected to start towing the tanker on 1 September.[31]
The salvage operation of the tanker started on 2 September 2024.[32] The operation was abandoned shortly after due to unsafe conditions, according to Operation Aspides. Aspides added that "alternative solutions" were being considered without providing further details.[33]
On 12 September 2024, the Greek Coast Guard announced that two tugboats from Piraeus escorted by a Greek and French warship were near the tanker and would start towing it that week.[34][35] A new effort to salvage the tanker started on 14 September 2024.[36] The tanker was slowly towed northwards after a salvage team secured it to the Greek-flagged tugboat Aigaion Pelagos, despite temperatures of up to 400 °F (204 °C) due to the fire.[37] Aspides announced that Sounion was safely towed away from Yemen on 16 September.[38]
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree, posted a video claiming that the Yemeni Navy had destroyed the Sounion, and stating that the motive for destroying the ship was the company violating Houthi-imposed restrictions on the use of Israeli ports, which were referred to as the ports of "occupied Palestine".[2]
The Pentagon strongly condemned the Houthi movement for deliberately targeting the abandoned oil tanker and knowingly creating a severe environmental disaster that could significantly affect Yemen and the livelihood of its citizens. Pentagon administrator Sabrina Singh stated in response to the attacks, "What exactly does this accomplish? They said they were launching these attacks to help the people of Gaza, not sure how that helps anyone in Gaza."[23]
Matthew Miller, speaking on behalf of the United States Department of State, said on 24 August that the Houthis appeared "determined to sink the ship and its cargo into the sea" and that they were "willing to destroy the fishing industry and regional ecosystems that Yemenis and other communities in the region rely on for their livelihoods." He called upon the Houthis to stop these actions and for other countries to intervene in order to prevent further environmental damage to the region.[2][28]
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