Qualla: Attacks on the Sounion https://qualla.com/attacks-on-the-sounion en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/t/t/attacks-on-the-sounion-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Attacks on the Sounion https://qualla.com/attacks-on-the-sounion Attacks on the Sounion: Introduction https://qualla.com/attacks-on-the-sounion/ Photo credit Alf van Beem, CC0. On the afternoon of 21 August 2024, a Greek-flagged oil tanker named the Sounion was steaming north through the Red Sea with 150,000 tons of Iraqi crude in its holds - about a million barrels, four times what the Exxon Valdez spilled into Prince William Sound in 1989. Houthi fighters in two fast attack craft closed on the 274-meter ship about 77 nautical miles west of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, and opened fire on its four-man security team. Three projectiles struck the tanker. A fire broke out on board. The engine went dead. The crew - 25 Filipinos and Russians - were told to abandon ship. A French frigate, the Chevalier Paul, raced in under the European Union's Operation Aspides and took them all off in the dark. That was day one of a month-long crisis that came very close to becoming the worst oil spill in maritime history.

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Image: Alf van Beem | CC0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/t/t/attacks-on-the-sounion-wp/sftt-attacks-on-the-sounion-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Attacks on the Sounion: The Crew https://qualla.com/attacks-on-the-sounion/ Photo credit Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0. The twenty-five merchant sailors who abandoned the Sounion were Filipino and Russian, crewing a Greek-owned ship under contract to Delta Tankers of Athens. Two of Delta's other vessels, the Delta Blue and the Delta Atlantica, had already been attacked by Houthi forces earlier in ...

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Image: Frank Vincentz | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/t/t/attacks-on-the-sounion-wp/sftt-attacks-on-the-sounion-the-crew.mp3 0:06 2 full Attacks on the Sounion: The Explosions https://qualla.com/attacks-on-the-sounion/ Photo credit Alf van Beem, CC0. On 23 August, the Houthis released their own footage. It showed their fighters boarding the empty tanker, then cutting to a long shot of three simultaneous blasts detonating across the ship's length - plainly charges set by hand rather than missile or drone strikes. The Houthis' ...

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Image: Alf van Beem | CC0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/t/t/attacks-on-the-sounion-wp/sftt-attacks-on-the-sounion-the-explosions.mp3 0:06 3 full Attacks on the Sounion: The Environmental Stakes https://qualla.com/attacks-on-the-sounion/ Photo credit Alf van Beem, CC0. A million barrels of Iraqi crude burning into the Red Sea would have been catastrophic. The Red Sea is a narrow, enclosed marine system with unusually high biodiversity - coral reefs, mangroves, migratory tuna, turtles, the fishing grounds that feed coastal Yemen. US State Depart...

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Image: Alf van Beem | CC0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/t/t/attacks-on-the-sounion-wp/sftt-attacks-on-the-sounion-the-environmental-stakes.mp3 0:06 4 full Attacks on the Sounion: The Salvage https://qualla.com/attacks-on-the-sounion/ Photo credit Alf van Beem, CC0. An initial tugboat mission on 2 September was aborted because the ship was still on fire and the conditions were unsafe. For ten days the Sounion burned and drifted. On 12 September the Greek Coast Guard announced a new attempt, escorted by Greek and French warships. Two days lat...

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Image: Alf van Beem | CC0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/t/t/attacks-on-the-sounion-wp/sftt-attacks-on-the-sounion-the-salvage.mp3 0:06 5 full Attacks on the Sounion: Why It Matters https://qualla.com/attacks-on-the-sounion/ Photo credit Alf van Beem, CC0. The Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree posted video claiming the Yemeni Navy had sunk the Sounion in response to Delta Tankers' use of Israeli ports. The movement framed the strike as an act of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Three facts cut against that framing. The Sounion was ...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/t/t/attacks-on-the-sounion-wp/sftt-attacks-on-the-sounion-why-it-matters.mp3 0:06 6 full