Photos show an oil tanker ablaze days after Houthi rebels attacked it with a drone boat

The Greek-flagged tanker vessel MV Sounion came under attack by the Houthis last Wednesday as it was transiting the Gulf of Oman, the Greek shipping ministry said.

The 274-meter-long oil tanker was en route from Iraq to the Greek town of Agioi Theodoroi, about 50 miles west of Athens, where several key oil refineries operate to provide fuel from Greece to other parts of Europe and the US.

Operation Aspides — the European Union’s counter-Houthi naval mission — deployed a French frigate to rescue the crew aboard the Sounion, which was left stranded in international waters after the ship lost engine power during an attack.

During the rescue mission, however, the French warship detected a hostile naval drone “heavily loaded” with explosives and destroyed it, the French military said.

The frigate evacuated more than two dozen crew members aboard the Sounion, who were all reportedly unharmed in the incident, and transported them to a nearby port in Djibouti.

Following the rescue operation on Thursday, the abandoned tanker was reportedly anchored in place in waters between Eritrea and Yemen, a maritime security source told Reuters last week.

Late Friday night, the Houthis posted video footage to social media showing explosions rocking the damaged oil tanker as fires broke out on the main deck.

An analysis by the Associated Press said three simultaneous explosions could be heard in the video, suggesting that the explosives were planted on the abandoned vessel rather than struck by a drone or other munitions.

The EU’s naval operation released images of large plumes of smoke billowing from the tanker vessel on Monday, which was still ablaze days after the Houthi attack. Authorities added that at least five locations on the ship’s main deck were still on fire, including part of its superstructure and areas near the hatches of its oil tanks.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said the burning tanker also now appears to be adrift, possibly having lost its anchor.

The EU said the ship, which is loaded with 150,000 metric tons (about 165,000 tons) of flammable crude oil, represents “both a navigational and an imminent environmental hazard,” warning vessels in the area to exercise “extreme caution.”

The Sounion is carrying at least 1.1 million barrels of crude oil, or about 47.9 million gallons. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker could carry just over 53 million gallons — about 11 million of which spilled into the Gulf of Alaska in 1989 after the tanker hit a reef.

As of Sunday night, there were no obvious signs of an oil spill, Aspides wrote in a post on X.

“A potential spill could lead to disastrous consequences for the region’s marine environment,” the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority said Friday.

In its 10-month campaign terrorizing commercial ships in waters near Yemen, the Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels — seizing one and sinking two. At least three mariners have been killed in the Houthi campaign.

The Sounion is the third vessel operated by Greek shipping company Delta Tankers to be targeted by the Iranian-backed rebel group this month.

In a televised speech, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebel group was attacking Delta Tankers’ ships because the shipping company allegedly disregarded the rebel’s group demands not to enter “the ports of occupied Palestine.”

“Delta Tankers is doing everything it can to move the vessel (and cargo),” the company said in a statement on Friday, per Reuters. “For security reasons, we are not in a position to comment further.”