Pentagon: Oil tanker Sounion attacked by Houthis in the Red Sea apparently leaks oil

Washington: The Greek-flagged crude oil tanker Sounion, which was recently attacked by the Houthis in Yemen, is still burning in the Red Sea and now appears to be leaking oil, a Pentagon spokesman said on Tuesday.

Last week, the ship Sounion was attacked by several missiles off the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.

The Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, said they attacked the group in the Red Sea. The Iran-aligned group had previously attacked ships in the Gaza Strip in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Pentagon spokesman and Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said a third party tried to send two tugboats to recover the Sounion, but the Houthis threatened to attack them.

He did not name the “third party” but said the Houthis’ actions showed “their blatant disregard not only for human life but also for the potential environmental disaster this entails.”

He said the US Central Command was monitoring the situation to decide how best to help Sounion, which is loaded with 136,000 tons of Iraqi crude oil, while mitigating the environmental impact.

However, there are currently no US Navy ships in the Red Sea or near the Gulf of Aden.

“These are simply reckless acts of terrorism that continue to destabilize global and regional trade, endanger the lives of innocent civilian seafarers, and threaten the vibrant maritime ecosystem in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the Houthis’ backyard,” Ryder added.