The Yemeni government has issued a warning about a looming environmental disaster in the Red Sea, where the Greek oil tanker “Sounion” is at risk of exploding or sinking due to ongoing fires.
The fires started after the Iranian-backed Houthi militants attacked the tanker last Wednesday, as part of their escalating maritime assaults, claiming to support Palestinians in Gaza.
The warning coincides with reports from the European maritime mission (ASPIDES), which noted that the fires on the tanker, carrying around one million barrels of oil, are still burning in an area between Yemen and Eritrea in the southern Red Sea.
ASPIDES announced on Monday via platform X that fires have been burning on the “Sounion” tanker since last Friday, with no signs of an oil spill yet.
The mission also shared images on Sunday showing flames and thick smoke rising from at least five spots on the ship’s deck, including part of its upper structure.
The tanker was attacked by Houthi militants on August 21, causing its engines to fail and leaving it adrift. A French warship from ASPIDES evacuated the 29 crew members, mostly Filipinos, to Djibouti.
Houthi-released footage shows the group boarding the tanker, placing explosives near the tank openings, and detonating them remotely, which ignited the fires. There are concerns that the tanker could sink or explode, leading to a major oil spill.
Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Al-Eryani warned of the looming environmental disaster after revealing that the attack on Sounion was the ninth such strike on oil tankers in the Red Sea since last November.
The tanker is carrying 150,000 tons of crude oil.
Al-Eryani said the Houthi attacks caused the tanker to drift, disabled its engines, and led to the evacuation of its crew, leaving the vessel at risk of sinking or exploding just 85 nautical miles from Yeman’s Hodeidah port city.
He accused Houthis of “systematic terrorism” that could trigger an unprecedented environmental, economic, and humanitarian crisis.
