The Red Sea is becoming increasingly fraught with abandoned ships and damaged vessels continuing their journey, often trailing oil. Larger oil slicks visible through satellite imagery more than doubled in the region between 2023 and 2024, threatening marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of local people who depend upon them.
The most recent significant Houthi-claimed strike was against the Greek-flagged Sounion oil tanker. Unidentified projectiles hit it on Aug. 21, forcing its Russian and Filipino crew to evacuate. Two days later, the Houthis detonated explosive charges on board the abandoned tanker, leaving almost 1 million barrels of crude oil adrift in a burning ship.
If the Houthis’ latest significant attack has breached the Sounion oil tanker’s hull, the resulting spill could be the biggest oil disaster so far this century and the fifth biggest ever recorded by the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation.
The Sounion has been ablaze in at least five places since Aug. 23. It threatens a “catastrophic environmental crisis,” but there was no evidence yet of a major spill, EU Naval Forces said in an Aug. 29 update.
“As of today, September 2, 2024, the salvage operation has commenced. Two tugs are working to secure the vessel and assess the situation where the process of determining the most appropriate salvage method is currently underway,” said Al Sharjabi, the Yemeni environment minister.
The main risks are fertilizer-catalyzed algal blooms and a sudden release of oil that could reach the nearby Hanish Islands and coastal marine protected zones. These areas are especially sensitive to pollutants, and support the second-longest coral reef on the planet, home to the most heat-resistant corals on Earth.
In the event of an algal boom, fishing and shellfish collection in the area would have to cease due to possible toxicity. For the 300,000 people dependent on Yemen’s fishing industry in nearby Hodeidah governorate this could spell disaster.
More than 60% of fishers in this area have already lost their jobs due to the attacks, a March 2024 assessment carried out by ACAPS, an independent analytical consultancy, reported. And the Yemeni population can ill afford having fewer fish on the market during an ongoing famine precipitated by the civil war, according to the FAO.
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