Yemeni Houthis Allow Rescue Teams To Access Greek Crude Oil Ship Damaged In Attack

The Greek oil tanker MV Sounion has 1,50,000 tonnes or 1 lakh barrels of oil. This makes it a ticking time bomb for an unprecedented disaster after the damage inflicted in a Houthi attack last week.

Yemen's Houthi group has agreed to allow tugboats and rescue ships to access the damaged crude oil ship in the Red Sea, Iran's mission to the United Nations (UN) said on Wednesday. The decision comes after the Iran-affiliated militants attacked the Greek-flagged vessel last week.

According to Reuters, the Greece ship, MV Sounion, has 1,50,000 tonnes or 1 lakh barrels of oil. Any spill has the potential to be an unprecedented disaster.

Iran's United Nations (UN) mission in New York said that several countries have reached out to the Houthis requesting a “temporary truce” for the rescue ships and tugboats to reach the incident spot. In light of the humanitarian and environmental concerns, the Houthi group has agreed to this request. 

The Houthis who control much of Yemen, have been attacking ships for more than 10 months, during which they have struck 70 ships, they have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least three seafarers. The militant group said it has been doing this in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The group has claimed that it is only targeting ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

Attack On MV Sounion

Last week, the MV Sounion was first attacked by gunfire from two small boats, which was followed by unidentified projectiles off Yemen's port city of Hodeidah. This attack ignited a fire and left it without engine power, the BBC cited the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) office. The oil tanker was later attacked again - the Houthis posted a video purportedly showing them setting it on fire.

The report further said that 25 crew members were rescued by a European warship a day later and transported to Djibouti.

As per Reuters, in a statement on Wednesday, Iran's UN mission said: "The failure to provide aid and prevent an oil spill in the Red Sea stems from the negligence of certain countries, rather than concerns over the possibility of being targeted."

According to Reuters sources from the insurance industry said that additional war risk premiums paid when vessels sail through the Red Sea rose to 0.75% up from 0.4% before the recent attack. However, these premiums were higher at 1% in February reflecting the industry assessments of varying levels of risk.