After Weeks Ablaze, Fire Aboard Tanker Sounion Appears to be Out

 

Nearly seven weeks after Houthi terrorists attacked the tanker Sounion in the Red Sea, the fires that raged on the vessel's decks appear to have finally been put out, based on open-source satellite data. 

Sounion was attacked by Yemen's Houthi rebel group three times on August 21, disabling the engine and leaving the ship adrift. After the crew abandoned ship, Houthi fighters returned to plant explosive charges on deck, starting multiple small fires that have burned for weeks. 

Greek salvors began fighting the fire aboard the Sounion on September 23, and had achieved "promising results" by the end of September. Some of the fires were under control within a week of active response efforts, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). 

In an update, UKMTO reported that as of Sunday, the firefighting effort was near completion and "some fires are extinguished and others under control." 

On Monday, multiple open-source intelligence analysts reported that the Sounion's heat signature was no longer showing up on infrared satellite imagery, indicating that the fires had been extinguished or suppressed to the point that they were no longer detectable by remote sensing. Visual imaging taken by the EU Sentinel-2 satellite also showed an absence of smoke on scene, a change from prior days. 

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After being attacked by the Houthis on 21 & 23 August, it would appear that the fire has finally been extinguished

Sentinel 2???? (7 October 2024) shows no more smoke billowing and no more hotspots visible on the deck of the vessel pic.twitter.com/vwcd5yTx5B

— MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) October 7, 2024

The success of the firefighting effort is good news for the entire Red Sea region. In the event of an explosion, sinking or spill, the one-million-barrel cargo aboard Sounion would have a pollution potential exceeding that of the Exxon Valdez. A spill of that magnitude would affect a large swathe of the Red Sea, likely including the Houthi-controlled coastline of western Yemen.