Burning Tanker Begins Delivering Oil Two Months After Houthi Attack

A Greek tanker that was attacked by Houthis and raised fears of a major oil spill is unloading its cargo two months after a Red Sea accident.

Upstream’s sister company TradeWinds said at the start of the rescue operation in September that it planned to sail the Sonion to the Suez region in Egypt to transport its cargo.

According to Greece’s official news agency ANA, this is happening as the Delta Tankers ship is transferring 1 million barrels of oil to another sister ship, the Delta Blue, in the Egyptian port of Suez.

“The ship is in the Suez Canal, and we are no longer monitoring it because it is in a safe anchorage,” a Greek Ministry of Maritime Trade source told AFP.

The agency cited the ministry as saying the lightning operation began on Thursday and will last three to four weeks.

The Sonion ship was first attacked on August 21 when it lost power outside the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.

The next day, 25 crew members were rescued after abandoning the ship after repeated attacks from missiles and small boats.

The Houthis later claimed to have placed an explosive device on the ship’s deck, causing the fire.

The Yemeni militia later released a video clip showing the operation.

In September, the EU maritime safety agency Aspids said the Sonion was not under its protection at the time of the attack.

A source in the department told AFP that the ship’s original route “is a mystery.”

The source added, “We were told that he was heading from Iraq to Singapore. If so, how did he end up in the Red Sea?”

The firefighting of the fully loaded tanker lasted nearly seven weeks.

Finally, the Sonion was transported to the Suez Canal by tugboat operations.