(Bloomberg) -- Greece is leading an effort to empty and tow away an oil tanker that was attacked last week in the Red Sea, according to people familiar with the talks.
The Greek-flagged Sounion was hauling 150,000 tons of Iraqi crude oil when it was ambushed by Yemen’s Houthi militants. The crew was rescued, but parts of the ship were left ablaze, and it’s unclear whether the vessel is currently leaking.
Under the salvage plan, the Sounion’s oil will be transferred at sea to another ship, while the vessel will towed by tugboats to a safe port, probably Djibouti, according to people familiar with the plans who asked not to be identified as discussions are private. Greek, French and Italian vessels from the European Union’s Aspides naval operation will escort the Sounion during the salvage operation and the Saudis will likely oversee the oil transfer, they added.
The Houthis have agreed to allow tugboats to remove the Sounion. Should a major oil spill occur, it would have serious implications for Yemen’s coast, as well as those of its neighbors.
The plan is the result of close coordination between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, European partners and key regional players including Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the people said. Greece also tapped its back channel to Iran, which supports the Houthi militants.
Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Greek Foreign Minister Georgios Gerapetritis said that he had spoken with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs to ensure that “this issue will be handled as safely as possible.”
While a Pentagon spokesman said on Tuesday that the vessel appears to be leaking, raising the specter of an environmental disaster, representatives of the Aspides operation have denied this.
In the absolute worst-case scenario, a leak of all Sounion’s cargo would represent the fifth-largest spill on record, surpassing incidents like the 2018 Sanchi spill near China.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said in a televised speech following the attack that his fighters stormed the oil tanker and “destroyed its cargo” using explosives — a claim that couldn’t be verified and seemed improbable, given that it would have caused a vast oil spill. He added that his group planned to continue targeting ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s activities in Gaza.
Since militants stepped up attacks last year in the Red Sea, thousands of container vessels and oil tankers have opted to avoid the area.
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