Salvage of stricken oil tanker in Red Sea expected soon – Reuters

The Sounion is laden with about 1 million barrels of crude oil

A salvage operation to recover a Greek-registered oil tanker stranded ablaze in the Red Sea after an attack by Houthi militants is expected to start in the coming days, Reuters reports.

The Sounion, which the Houthis and maritime sources have said has been rigged with explosives, is laden with about 1 million barrels of crude oil.

If a spill occurs, it has the potential to be among the largest from a ship in recorded history and could cause an environmental catastrophe in an area that is particularly dangerous to access.

"What was decided yesterday is an initial game plan, of the operation starting in 48 hours," one of the sources said.

A second source said the operation was likely to be complex.

Greece said in a letter circulated through the U.N. shipping agency on Friday that what it called a "potential spill" of 2.2 nautical miles (4.2 km) in length had been detected in the area matching the location of the Sounion in the Red Sea.

However, an official with the European Union's ASPIDES naval monitoring mission told Reuters that the potential spill was from the vessel’s engine and not from the oil cargo onboard.

"The potential spill is from the tanker's engine after the first hit,” the ASPIDES official said.

Greece urged "all nations and all actors involved to assist in preventing the environmental hazard and resolving the situation the soonest possible" in its letter dated Aug. 29 and published on Friday by the IMO.