Salvagers Launch New Attempt to Tow an Oil Tanker Blown up by Yemen’s Houthis

Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 14, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via Reuters /File Photo
Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 14, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via Reuters /File Photo
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Salvagers Launch New Attempt to Tow an Oil Tanker Blown up by Yemen’s Houthis

Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 14, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via Reuters /File Photo
Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 14, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via Reuters /File Photo

A new attempt has begun to try to salvage an oil tanker burning in the Red Sea after attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias, a European Union naval mission said Saturday.

The EU’s Operation Aspides published images dated Saturday of its vessels escorting three ships heading to the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion.

The mission has “been actively involved in this complex endeavor, by creating a secure environment, which is necessary for the tugboats to conduct the towing operation,” the EU said.

A phone number for the mission rang unanswered Saturday. However, satellite images taken Saturday morning by Planet Labs PBC and later analyzed by The Associated Press showed what appeared to be the three salvage vessels close to the Sounion. A warship could be seen nearby.

The Greek state news agency ANA-MPA later reported the Aigaion Pelagos, a Greek-flagged tugboat, was involved in the effort. It said “three frigates, helicopters and a special forces unit” backed the salvagers.

"Despite challenging conditions, with temperatures reaching up to 400 degrees Celsius (752 degrees Fahrenheit) due to the fire, the specialized salvage team successfully secured the tanker to the Aigaion Pelagos,” the report said.

The Sounion came under attack from the Houthis beginning Aug. 21. The vessel had been staffed by a crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, who were taken by a French destroyer to nearby Djibouti.

The Houthis later planted explosives aboard the ship and detonated them. That’s led to fears the ship’s 1 million barrels of crude oil could spill into the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. One of the sunken vessels, the Tutor, went down after the Houthis planted explosives aboard it and after its crew abandoned it due to an earlier attack, the militias later acknowledged.

Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.

The Houthis maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.



Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.