DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Fires broke out Friday on a Greek-flagged oil tanker formerly assaulted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels this week, with the vessel now appearing to be adrift in the Red Sea, authorities stated.
It wasn’t rightaway clear what had occurred to the oil tanker Sounion, which hadactually been deserted by its team on Thursday and supposedly anchored in location.
The Houthis didn’t rightaway acknowledge the fire. The rebels are presumed to haveactually gone back and assaulted at least one other vessel that lateron sank as part of their monthslong project versus shipping in the Red Sea over the continuous Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The attacks haveactually interferedwith a trade path that generally sees $1 trillion in products pass through it eachyear.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the fires in a note to mariners on Friday night.
“UKMTO have got a report that 3 fires haveactually been observed on vessel,” the center stated. “The vessel appears to be wandering.”
A United States defense main, speaking on condition of privacy to talkabout intelligence matters, stated American authorities were conscious of the fires and continued to screen the circumstance.
The vessel hadactually been staffed by a team of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as 4 personal security workers, who were taken by a French destroyer to neighboring Djibouti, the European Union’s Aspides marine objective in the Red Sea stated Thursday.
The Sounion has 150,000 lots of crude oil aboard and represents a “navigational and ecological risk,” the objective alerted. “It is vital that everybody in the location workouts care and refrains from any actions that might lead to a wearandtear of the present si