A French destroyer rescued 29 sailors from the Greek-owned oil tanker Sounion, which came under repeated attacks in the Red Sea, officials said today Thursday. 

Yemen’s Houthi rebels are suspected of carrying out the attack on Sounion. The French destroyer also destroyed an unmanned vessel carrying bombs in the area.

The attack, the most serious in the Red Sea in weeks, comes during a months-long Houthi campaign targeting ships in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, which has disrupted a trade route through which normally $1 trillion worth of cargo passes each year.

Under warship protection, Sounion remains 72 nautical miles west of Yemen’s Hodeidah in the Red Sea.

Delta Tankers, regarding the attack on its vessel, said that it is continuously evaluating maritime security information, and the captain and crew of the Sounion made the decision to evacuate the vessel.

The company also expresses its thanks for the maritime support and says that there are plans to move the ship to a safer destination, a port, where a full assessment (inspections and possible repairs) of the damage that has been caused can be carried out.

In its statement, EUNAVFOR ASPIDES also states that an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) was successfully neutralized in the morning hours by a frigate located at the site, which had been called to provide protection at the request of the shipping company and of the captain.

According to the Hellenic Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, informed by EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, the crew is in good health, while the ship is carrying 150,000 tons of crude oil, which was loaded at the port of Al Basra on August 11 and was destined for the port of Corinth.

Military officials did not name the French destroyer involved in the rescue.

In Wednesday’s attack, men in small boats first opened fire with small arms about 140 km west of the rebel-held Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the UK military’s commercial maritime operations center said.

With information from: Euronews

Also read: Operation “ASPIDES” | German frigate Hessen equipped with missiles and ammunition – VIDEO