French destroyer rescues 29 mariners from oil tanker stricken in Red Sea attacks

Dubai: A French destroyer rescued 29 mariners from an oil tanker that came under repeated attack in the Red Sea, officials said on Thursday, while also destroying a bomb-carrying drone boat in the area.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels are suspected to have carried out the assault on the Sounion, now abandoned in the waterway. The attack, the most serious in the Red Sea in weeks, comes during a monthslong campaign by Houthis targeting ships over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that has disrupted a trade route through which USD 1 trillion in cargo typically passes each year.

The Sounion is now at anchor in the Red Sea and no longer drifting, the European Union’s Operation Aspides said. The vessel had been staffed by a crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, who have been taken to nearby Djibouti, the EU mission in the Red Sea said.

The Sounion has 150,000 tons of crude oil aboard and represents a “navigational and environmental hazard”, the mission warned. “It is essential that everyone in the area exercises caution and refrains from any actions that could lead to a deterioration of the current situation.”

Military officials did not name the French destroyer involved in the rescue. The Sounion also had not asked for an escort prior to the attacks, the EU mission said.

The French military separately released an image of the Sounion, showing the blaze on board had been extinguished.