Greek-Flagged Oil Tanker Drifting Ablaze West of Hodeida

Fires broke out Friday on a Greek-flagged oil tanker attacked by Yemen’s Houthis on Wednesday, with the vessel now appearing to be adrift in the Red Sea west of Hodeida, authorities said. It wasn’t immediately clear what had happened to the oil tanker Sounion, which had been abandoned by its crew on Thursday and reportedly anchored in place.

The Houthis didn’t immediately acknowledge the fire. The rebels are suspected to have gone back and attacked at least one other vessel that later sank as part of their monthslong campaign against shipping in the Red Sea over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The attacks have disrupted a trade route that typically sees US$1 trillion in goods pass through it annually.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the fires in a note to mariners on Friday night. “UKMTO have received a report that three fires have been observed on vessel,” the center said. “The vessel appears to be drifting.” A United States defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American officials were aware of the fires and continued to monitor the situation.

The Greek-flagged oil tanker traveling through the Red Sea came under repeated attack by the Houthis this week, leaving the vessel “not under command” and drifting ablaze after an assault suspected to have been carried out by Yemeni Houthis, the British military said.

The crew of the Sounion, made up of two Russians and 23 Filipinos, abandoned the vessel and was rescued by the European Unions’s Red Sea naval mission “Aspides,” an official in the mission told Reuters on Thursday.

The attack, the most serious in the Red Sea in weeks, comes during a monthslong campaign by Houthis targeting ships over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that has disrupted the trade route.

In the attack, men on small boats first opened fire with small arms about 140 kilometers (90 miles) west of the Yemeni port city of Hodeida, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

Four projectiles also hit the ship, it added. It wasn’t immediately clear if that meant drones or missiles.

“The vessel reports being not under command,” the UKMTO said, likely meaning it lost all power. “No casualties reported.” Later, the UKMTO warned that the ship was drifting while on fire in the Red Sea.

The Greek shipping ministry later identified the vessel as the tanker Sounion, with 25 crew members on board at the time of the attack as it traveled from Iraq to Cyprus.

Later Wednesday, the UKMTO reported a second ship being targeted in the Gulf of Aden by three explosions that occurred in the water close to it, though they caused no damage. That ship, the Wind I, came under attack again Thursday with two more explosions striking in the water, the UKMTO said.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attacks, though it can take them hours or even days before they acknowledge their assaults. However, they did acknowledge US airstrikes in Hodeida, which the American military’s Central Command said destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile and radar system.

The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s thousands-strong October 7 assault on southern Israel that left nearly 1,200 people dead and saw 251 kidnapped. Since November, the Houthies have also seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors.

Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.