EU: Greek Oil Tanker Targeted Near Yemen, Abandoned Poses "Environmental Hazard".
25 crew members of the Sounion were rescued after abandoning the Greek-flagged oil tanker, but not before there was a brief exchange of gunfire.
EU/YEMEN - The European Union says that a Greek-flagged oil tanker that was carrying 150,000 tons of crude oil when it was attacked on Wednesday now poses an "environmental hazard" after it was left abandoned after the crew evacuated the vessel.
The "Sounion" was left adrift in the Red Sea after being attacked multiple times, near Hudaydah, Yemen and abandoned by its Filipino and Russian crew, according to both British and Greek authorities.
The vessel was hit by gunfire from two smaller boats containing around a dozen people that approached it on Wednesday 77 nautical miles west of the port city of Hudaydah, Yemen according to the UKMTO.
The ship was then hit with three unidentified projectiles which started an onboard fire and left the vessel without power to its engines, though no injuries to the crew were reported, which then evacuated the vessel and left it abandoned.
Update: A new incident has also been reported where three small boats, two manned boats with 2-3 people onboard, and one Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) "acting suspiciously" 87 nautical miles west of Saleef, Yemen:
25 Crew Members were Rescued After Abandoning Ship, 23 Filipinos And 2 Russians. Full Report:
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