EU naval mission in the Red Sea confirms the start of towing of the oil tanker ‘Sounion’

September 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The European Union naval mission in the Red Sea, ‘Aspides’, confirmed on Sunday the start of the towing operation of the oil tanker ‘Sounion’, on fire since it was attacked at the end of August by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen.

“The rescue of the ‘MV Sounion’ is a complex operation and consists of several phases. The tugs have successfully connected to the ship and the towing to a safe place is in progress,” the mission said in a brief message published on the social network X.

This comes after Houthi foreign minister Jamal Amer announced on September 1 that efforts had begun to tow the tanker amid the threat of an oil spill.

Sources cited by Bloomberg said that ships from Greece, France and Italy belonging to the Aspides will accompany the Sounion during the rescue operation and Saudi Arabia is likely to oversee the process of transferring the oil to another ship.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations confirmed last week that the Houthis had agreed to a temporary truce to allow tugboats and salvage vessels to reach the Greek-flagged tanker, although this was denied by the group.

The Sounion was carrying 150,000 tonnes of oil from Iraq to Greece with a crew of two Russian sailors and 23 Filipinos and became stranded in the area after losing power following at least three projectiles fired by Yemen’s Houthis.

The Houthis, who have controlled the Yemeni capital Sanaa and other areas in the north and west of the country since 2015, have launched several attacks against Israeli territory and against ships with some kind of Israeli connection following the offensive unleashed against Gaza after the attacks carried out on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).