Burning Tanker Attacked By Rebels May Be Environmental Disaster
The Sounion tanker carrying crude oil through the Red Sea was hit by rockets from Houthi rebels and is now afire and breaking up which may cause a major environmental disaster The EU government has started to address the problem, but its abilities to do so may be very limited. One of its arms posted the following on X:
EUNAFOR ASPIDES 🇪🇺 conducted a Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Operation as an immediate response to MV SOUNION master’s request for an urgent assistance, after it came under attack on August 21, in the southern Red Sea.
It listed the source of the attack as “unknown”. Part of the warning is that the huge fire on the ship could cause a major oil leak. This in turn, “could lead to a severe ecological disaster with potentially devastating effects on the region’s biodiversity.” It listed as potential victims, the lives of all people living in the area closeby around the Red Sea.
The attack and subsequent fire are another example of why shipping companies have stopped using the Suez Canal. Ships need to navigate through the Red Sea to reach it. Houthi attacks continue , despite strikes from military sources which include the US Navy.
Cargo ships and tankers have begun to take a much longer route which navigate south of Africa and can add ten days to the trips and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional fuel cost.
