(Bloomberg) -- A Greek-operated oil tanker was adrift in the Red Sea after facing a salvo of attacks.
The Sounion was attacked while sailing through the waterway and suffered minor damage, its owner and operator Delta Tankers said Wednesday. It didn’t specify whether the ship was drifting as a result of damage from the attack, or how long it might do so.
UK Maritime Trade Operations said in a notice that a tanker — which it didn’t identify by name — was hit by a series of projectiles early Wednesday after being approached by two small vessels. No casualties were reported.
There was also a fire on board and the ship lost engine power, according to an update from UKMTO, which is part of the Navy.
The Sounion, which is able to haul about a million barrels of crude oil, is adrift while the crew assess the impact, according to Delta. It will continue its onward journey in due course, the company said.
Vessels have been regularly attacked in the Red Sea since Yemen’s Houthi militants began targeting merchant ships late last year in protest at Israel’s activities in Gaza. In June, they sank a ship with a sea drone for the first time.
Many commercial ships are avoiding the region around the Red Sea and consequently the Suez Canal due to the unrest, instead sailing around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
The tanker appeared to load a cargo of crude off Iraq earlier this month, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. It switched off its signal as it headed past the coast of Oman on its way to the Gulf of Aden.
UKMTO later said another ship reported three nearby explosions in the water in the Gulf of Aden. That vessel was proceeding to its next port.
--With assistance from Weilun Soon and Serene Cheong.
(Updates with further UKMTO reports from third paragraph.)
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