Risky salvage of Sounion tanker to restart in Red Sea this week, sources say

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ATHENS (Reuters) -Experts will this week resume a risky operation to salvage the Sounion tanker that was repeatedly attacked by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea last month and still holds about one million barrels of crude oil, maritime sources said on Thursday.

The towing of the 900-foot (274.2-metre), Greek-registered vessel – which was struck by multiple projectiles, lost power and caught fire on Aug. 21 – was paused after it was deemed unsafe by the companies initially involved in the project.

The salvage operation will be particularly delicate, given the full load and a host of other factors, officials said.

Any spill could be one of the largest from a ship, risking catastrophic environmental damage in an area that is particularly dangerous to enter.

The Houthis – who say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians caught up in the Israel-Gaza war – detonated charges on the tanker after the initial attack, causing more fires. It is unclear if any explosives are still active.

At least two tugboats owned by a Greek-based salvage company are already in the area and will deal with the towage, one of the sources said.

“There is an action plan in place and there is progress,” another source added. “The towing operation is expected to begin in the next two days.”

The ship’s crew has been evacuated. Greece has also been in touch with regional power Saudi Arabia to ask for assistance.

The Iran-aligned Houthi militants said they would allow salvage teams to tow Sounion to safety.

Despite that, the Houthis have “threatened salvage crews, complicating an already challenging operation and risking the lives of more mariners,” Robert Wood, deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said during a U.N. Security Council briefing on Thursday.

The EU’s naval mission in the Red Sea, Aspides, will protect the vessels involved in the towage and monitor the entire operation, an Aspides official reiterated on Thursday.

A French frigate and a Greek frigate participating in Aspides were already in the area, one of the sources said.

The Houthis have damaged more than 80 ships in missile and drone attacks since November, sinking two vessels, seizing another and killing at least three crew members.

(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis in Athens, Jonathan Saul in London and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Andrew Heavens)