"I am extremely concerned about the relative situation to the oil tanker Sounion, which was targeted during transit through the southern Red Sea'. It has said today the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Arsenio Dominguez, referring to the attack against some ships conducted last Wednesday in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden by Yemeni Houthi rebels with missiles, drones and naval vehicles, with bombs that hit the Sounion tanker on which a fire broke out ( of 22 and 26 August 2024). Dominguez recalled that "the oil tanker carries about 150,000 tons of oil on board, or about one million barrels of crude oil".

"This - he denounced the Secretary General of the IMO - is yet another unacceptable attack on international shipping, which puts The lives of innocent seafarers are at risk. I am grateful to all those who are involved in rescue activities for having carried out the safe evacuation of all seafarers. The risk of an oil spill, which poses a hazard extremely serious environment, remains high and there is general concern for the damage that such a spill would cause in the region. The IMO is in contact with national, regional and as well as with other stakeholders, on incident and we are ready to offer support with any technical assistance to address the ongoing challenges in safety, security and environment issues posed by the ship hit".

"I continue to closely monitor the situation and - concluded Dominguez - I reiterate my appeal for an immediate end to the cowardly, illegal and unjustified attacks on the international maritime transport in the Red Sea area. The ships merchant ships carrying essential supplies and seafarers service on them should be free to browse in the whole world, without impediments due to geopolitical tensions".