Oil Tanker Hit by Houthis Could Spill 'Millions of Barrels'

The United States (US) on Saturday (24/8) warned of a potential environmental disaster in the Red Sea after Houthi rebels attacked an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen. The Greek-flagged Sounion came under attack Wednesday off the rebel-held port city of Hodeida. The Iran-backed Houthis said they had struck the vessel with drones and missiles. The UKMTO maritime agency on Friday (23/8) reported three fires were seen on the ship, while a video released by the Houthis on social media also allegedly showed three explosions on the ship. The 274-meter-long ship had just departed from Iraq and was en route to a port near Athens, carrying a cargo of 150,000 tons of crude oil. “The Houthi offensive has the potential to spill one million barrels of oil into the Red Sea, an amount four times larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement Saturday. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 resulted in 257,000 barrels of oil spilling along the Alaskan coast. “While the crew has been evacuated, the Houthis appear determined to sink the ship and its cargo into the sea,” Miller said. The Sounion's crew, consisting of 23 Filipinos and …

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Oil Tanker Hit by Houthis Could Spill 'Millions of Barrels'

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