A second attempt to tow a burning tanker to safety after an attack by Houthi rebels more than three weeks ago is due to start on Friday.
Salvors are returning to the Greek-flagged 163,800-dwt Sounion (built 2006) after an initial attempt was called off earlier this month owing to safety concerns.
The start of the latest attempt was confirmed in a navigational warning urging other vessels to give the area a wide berth of five nautical miles (9 km) when the operation starts.
The EU naval force Aspides on Friday said that it would provide protection to the new commercial salvage operation that would tow “the ship to a safe location”.
“The vessel is currently anchored, not drifting and there are no signs of an oil spill from the main cargo hold,” it said in a social media post.
“To prevent an environmental disaster, it is essential that public, private organisations and actors work closely together.”
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who caused the Sounion’s travails by attacking the vessel with missiles on 21 August and boarding it later to blow up its deck with explosives, have signalled they will not attack salvors to avoid an environmental disaster on their country’s shores.
The initial attempt on 1 September was stopped when the 15,000-bhp Gladiator (built 1977) and the 5,150-bhp Hercules (built 2009) backed out, citing safety concerns.
TradeWinds understands that the vessels now engaged for the purpose include the Greek-flagged 10,000-bhp Aigaion Pelagos (built 2010), which vessel trackers already show underway in the Red Sea.
At least one more vessel, a port tug, is believed to have been hired to help assist the stricken Sounion to enter a harbour — possibly in Suez — to transfer its cargo.
It is believed that the effort to rescue the Greek-flagged Sounion of Greek company Delta Tankers is being orchestrated by the vessel’s insurers.
No Lloyd’s Open Form has been signed for the business, with salvors keen to keep their identity secret for security reasons.
“It’s all very hush-hush,” one of the sources said.
Smoke is still rising from the Sounion, suggesting flames continue raging just below deck.
Asked about the risk of a crude cargo spill, a shipping player described it as “real but not acute at this moment”.
According to the source, there is no structural reason for the ship’s fires to cause it to sink.
Trouble, however, looms if flames get mixed up with gases and lead to explosions that would cause the hull to crack.
The longer the rescue lasts, the more the risk increases. “The whole effort will definitely last quite a few days,” another source said.
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