(Bloomberg) -- Specialist salvage teams are set to renew efforts to remove a blazing oil tanker that’s been stuck in the Red Sea for over three weeks after it was attacked by Houthi militants, the European Union naval force in the region said.
The Houthis attacked the Sounion tanker as it sailed to Greece laden with heavy Iraqi oil, forcing the crew to abandon ship. The rebels then set offf explosives on its deck. The EU force is ready to “facilitate a new salvage operation” by protecting the ships that will tow the vessel, it said on X.
A notice on the Pakistan Navy’s Hydrographic Service’s website said the salvage operation would commence Friday afternoon. It advised ships to keep a wide berth of five nautical miles.
The Sounion was attacked Aug. 21 and remains ablaze. A previous effort to rescue the ship was abandoned on concern towing wouldn’t be successful.
The EU also said there’s no sign of an oil spill from the vessel’s cargo hold. Greece and the US previously said there were indications of a leak, though that could be from the ship’s fuel tanks rather than its cargo.
(Updates with Pakistan Navy navigational warning in third paragraph.)
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