EU naval mission rescues crew from burning oil tanker in Red Sea

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A French naval vessel rescued all 29 crew members from a missile-hit oil tanker in the Red Sea, after Yemen’s Houthis’ most effective attack on a merchant ship in more than two months.

Operation Aspides, the EU’s naval effort to combat Houthi threats to merchant shipping, warned on Thursday that the Sounion and its crude cargo now pose a “danger to navigation and the environment”.

Sounion was set on fire and left adrift by Wednesday’s attacks, including three rocket strikes. The Houthis claimed their attacks on the Sounion and another ship, the SW North Wind I, on Thursday evening.

The Sounion was hit in the Red Sea, 77 nautical miles west of the port of Hodeidah, while the other ship was targeted further south in the Gulf of Aden, 57 nautical miles from the port city of Aden.

As with the hundreds of other attacks they have launched against merchant ships since November, the Houthis said they were acting in support of Palestinians in Gaza following Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The Sounion is a Suezmax, the largest type of tanker capable of using the Suez Canal fully loaded and capable of carrying up to 1 million barrels of oil. The ship was carrying oil from the Iraqi port of Basra to an undisclosed destination.

The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (MTO) office in Dubai confirmed the separate attack on a vessel that other maritime security sources named the SW North Wind I. The office said the vessel suffered “minor damage” from a of unmanned surface. The same ship had been the target of five missile attacks on Wednesday, all of which missed.

Monaco-based Sea World Management, the ship’s manager, did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.

The Houthi attacks have prompted many shipowners to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, bypassing the Suez Canal, a vital link between ports in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The group last caused significant damage to a ship in mid-June.

In its statement on Thursday, Operation Aspides said it had sent a vessel to rescue the crew “following a request from the commander”. While the statement did not give details on the identity of the naval vessel or the number of people rescued, other reports said it was a French vessel and 29 crew were rescued.

“While approaching the area, Aspides destroyed an unmanned surface vessel that posed an imminent threat to the vessel and crew,” the statement said. “All on board the MV (motor vessel) Sounion were later rescued and are being flown to Djibouti, the nearest safe port of call.”

The statement added: “Carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil, the MV Sounion now poses a danger to navigation and the environment. It is essential that everyone in the area exercise caution and refrain from any actions that could lead to a deterioration of the current situation.”

A spokesman for Delta Tankers of Greece, the owners of Sounion, said: “We are grateful for the naval support. There are plans to move the ship to a safer destination where a full assessment can be carried out.”

The Houthis said Sounion was now at risk of sinking.

The UK MTO reported on Wednesday that a security team from Sounion initially engaged in a small arms firefight with gunmen in two small boats just before 6am local time that day. The ship was hit two hours later by two projectiles and suffered another attack just before 9am local time.

Martin Kelly, senior Middle East analyst at maritime risk consultancy EOS Risk Group, said the method of attack reflected how strikes by British and US forces on the Houthis had degraded many of their capabilities, particularly through attacks on radar installations . That forced them to use manned observation boats, such as those reported by the UK’s MTO.

However, he said Yemeni militants remained keen to avenge the July 20 attack by Israeli jets on Hodeidah. “The Houthis are still very much there,” Kelly said.

Hundreds of Houthi strikes on merchant ships since November have killed four sailors, sunk two ships and caused several serious ship fires.

Wednesday’s incident was only the fourth to force a crew to abandon ship. It was the first successful attack on a merchant ship off Yemen since the Houthis attacked the Tutor, a dry bulk carrier, on June 12, killing one sailor and causing the ship to sink.