Salvage Crews Scrap 1st Attempt to Recover Oil Tanker Damaged in Houthi Attack

Salvage crews continue to evaluate the risks in recovering the MV Sounion, which sits abandoned in the Red Sea after an Aug. 21 Houthi attack.

Fires burn aboard the oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea on Aug. 25, 2024. European Union's Operation Aspides via AP

Salvage teams have given up on an initial effort to recover the oil tanker MV Sounion, which was abandoned after an attack by Houthi rebel forces in Yemen.

Houthi forces boarded the Greek-flagged oil tanker and set off explosives aboard the vessel on Aug. 21, forcing the crew to abandon ship and setting off concerns about a potentially massive oil spill in the Red Sea.