After detecting an oil leak at the "Sunion" site, Saudi Arabia and Greece coordinate to avoid a disaster in the Red Sea

A report by the American Bloomberg Agency revealed that Saudi Arabia and Greece are "coordinating to avoid a disaster" due to the oil tanker "Sunion" in the Red Sea, which was attacked by the Houthi rebels in Yemen loyal to Iran, last week.

The report quoted informed people as saying that "Greece is leading efforts to unload the oil tanker," which was carrying 150,000 tons of Iraqi crude oil when it was attacked by Houthi militants in Yemen.

Rescue operations for the ship's crew were successful, but parts of the ship were on fire, and it is unclear whether there is currently an oil leak.

Informed sources told Bloomberg that, "under the rescue plan for the ship, the oil on board will be transferred to another ship, which will be towed to a safe port, perhaps in Djibouti."

The sources added that ships from Greece, France and Italy, part of the European Union mission in the Red Sea, "Aspedes", will accompany the "Sunion" during the rescue operation, and Saudi Arabia is likely to supervise the oil transfer process.

The sources also explained that the plan came "as a result of close coordination between Greece, European partners, and regional actors, including Saudi Arabia, in addition to Athens' exploitation of communication channels with Iran, the main supporter of the Houthis."

Oil spill detection

Greece said in a letter distributed by a U.N. agency on Friday that a possible oil spill measuring 2.2 nautical miles had been detected in an area matching the location of the tanker Sunion in the Red Sea.

Greece added that this information is based on a satellite image taken on Thursday evening and obtained by the European Maritime Safety Agency.

"The location of the oil spill matches the location of the ship," Greece said in the letter, dated Thursday and published Friday.

She added, "In light of the aforementioned circumstances, the condition of the tanker... represents a serious environmental risk to the marine environment in the Red Sea."

Rescue operation

In a related context, two informed sources told Reuters on Friday that the rescue operation of an oil tanker registered in Greece and stuck in the Red Sea since an attack launched by Houthi militants is expected to begin in the coming few days.

"What was decided yesterday is a preliminary plan for the operation expected to be launched within 48 hours," one of them said, while the other source said the operation was likely to be complicated because the Houthis had planted explosives on board the tanker.

The two sources explained that the priority of the operation, whether to tow the ship to a port or arrange for the transfer of its cargo, depends on examining its condition.

"It is not an easy task to transfer the oil cargo to another ship while there are explosives on board (the tanker)... In any case, Aspides (the EU monitoring mission) ships will protect the ship and escort it to a safe port," one of the sources said.

"Delta Tankers is doing everything possible to move the vessel (and cargo). For security reasons, we are not in a position to comment further," a spokesman for the Athens-based operator of the tanker said.

If a leak does occur, it would likely be among the largest ever recorded from a ship. “The Houthis have agreed to allow it to be withdrawn because any environmental disaster would ultimately affect their area,” a shipping source said.

The Sunion is the third ship operated by Athens-based Delta Tankers to be attacked in the Red Sea this month.

Source: Bloomberg + Reuters