DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Fires broke out Friday on a Greek-flagged oil tanker previously attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels this week, with the vessel now appearing to be adrift in the Red Sea, authorities said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what had happened to the oil tanker Sounion, which had been abandoned by its crew on Thursday and reportedly anchored in place.
The Houthis didn’t immediately acknowledge the fire. The rebels are suspected to have gone back and attacked at least one other vessel that later sank as part of their monthslong campaign against shipping in the Red Sea over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that’s disrupted a trade route that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it annually.
The British military‘s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the fires in a note to mariners on Friday night.
“UKMTO have received a report that three fires have been observed on vessel,” the center said. “The vessel appears to be drifting.”
A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American officials were aware of the fires and continued to monitor the situation.
The vessel had been staffed by a crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, who were taken by a French destroyer to nearby Djibouti, the EU’s Aspides naval mission in the Red Sea said on Thursday.
The Sounion has 150,000 tons of…
