Houthi operatives placed explosives on a tanker and detonated them, risking a catastrophic oil spill in the Red Sea

• The Houthis attacked a merchant tanker last week, forcing the crew to evacuate.
• The Iran-backed rebels have since seized the vessel and detonated explosives on the deck.

Houthi operatives filmed themselves detonating explosives that they placed on an abandoned merchant tanker in the Red Sea, setting the ship ablaze and risking a catastrophic oil spill.

The Houthis attacked the Greek-flagged MV Sounion multiple times last week, leaving the tanker without power and stranded in the water and forcing a French warship operating in the area to rescue its crew.

The Sounion, which was transporting the equivalent of 1 million barrels of crude oil from Iraq to Greece, has been on fire since Friday, threatening to cause what the US and European Union have warned could be an environmental disaster.

The Houthis published footage on Thursday showing rebel operatives on board the Sounion. Several holes on the vessel's exterior are visible in the footage, suggesting it was struck by multiple explosives.

In the video, Houthi rebels can be seen walking across the vessel with fires in the background. One shot shows an operative preparing what appears to be an explosive charge before zooming out to show several blasts across the ship at once.

It was not clear when the footage was taken, and Business Insider could not independently verify the details.

The Houthis repeatedly claim that their ongoing attacks on merchant vessels are in support of Palestinians and protest of Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, although US officials frequently push back on this claim.

"These are simply reckless acts of terrorism which continue to destabilize global and regional commerce, put the lives of innocent civilian mariners at risk, and imperil the vibrant maritime ecosystem in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the Houthis own backyard," Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Tuesday.

The EU's counter-Houthi mission, known as Operation Aspides, said Thursday that there are multiple fires in several locations on the main deck of the Sounion.

"Operating assets in the area have confirmed that there's no oil spill, and the ship is still anchored and not drifting," Operation Aspides said in an update on the Sounion's status. The EU said it is trying to facilitate the vessel's salvage to avoid a "catastrophic environmental crisis."

Satellite imagery captured by Maxar on Thursday shows what the company says is an oil slick on the water near the vessel, which is in line with recent US assessments.

The US State Department has said that Houthi attacks on the Sounion threaten to spill 1 million barrels of oil into the Red Sea, an amount four times the size of the notorious 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, which was known as one of the worst environmental disasters in American history.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have consistently launched missiles and drones into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to strike vessels transiting key merchant shipping lanes.

The US Navy and its European counterparts have stationed warships in the region to help facilitate safe passage for commercial vessels, as well as deter other hostile actors. However, the American naval presence in the Red Sea has scaled down in recent weeks.