Yemen Notes

I heard someone say that a tanker in the Red Sea was still burning 48 hours later following damage by missile from Yemen, so I posed this question...

Is the tanker hit by Houthis in the Red Sea still burning today?

No, the Saudi-flagged oil tanker Encelia is no longer burning. [1, 2]

While the vessel was targeted by Yemen's Houthi rebels on July 22, 2026, causing a fire to erupt at its bow, the ship’s crew successfully brought the blaze under control and extinguished it shortly after the attack. [1, 2]

Key Details of the Incident

• The Vessel: The Encelia, a commercial product tanker operated by a Saudi company. [1]
• The Attack: The vessel was sailing 70 nautical miles southwest of Al Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia, when it was struck by an unknown projectile launched by Houthi forces. [1, 2]
• Current Status: The Saudi General Transport Authority and maritime monitoring agencies confirmed that all crew members are safe. Immediate firefighting measures were executed by the crew to extinguish the flames. Necessary maritime security and environmental protection measures have been deployed, and no environmental contamination or oil spills have been reported. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Context of the Escalation

The strike followed a formal maritime blockade declared by the Houthi movement against Saudi-linked shipping lines. While the Houthis claimed to have targeted a second tanker, the Layla, that secondary strike remains independently unconfirmed. [1, 2]

If you would like to track this event further, I can provide information on how global oil prices have reacted or detail the U.S. military's defensive responses in the region. [1]

Is some other vessel burning now?

Yes, a different commercial vessel, the Kavomaleas, has been heavily burning following a separate attack in the region. [1, 2]

While the situation on the Encelia in the Red Sea is resolved, a significant maritime crisis is unfolding just to the east in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. [1, 2, 3]

The Kavomaleas Crisis

• The Incident: The Malta-flagged product tanker Kavomaleas, operated by the Greek shipping firm Dynacom Tankers, was hit by two projectiles off the coast of Oman. [1, 2]
• The Damage: The strikes triggered a major, uncontrolled fire in the vessel's engine room. The ship's internal carbon dioxide firefighting systems failed to contain the blaze. [1, 2]
• Current Status: The crew was forced to completely abandon ship and was safely rescued by a nearby tugboat. Left adrift and heavily smoking, recent satellite imagery and maritime intelligence reveal that the burning vessel has since been towed into Iranian waters near Larak Island and is believed to be in Iranian custody. It is also actively leaking fuel from its port side. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Other Recent Maritime Fires

The wider region has seen a cascade of naval escalations over the last week: [1]

• The Acheloos and Asia: Two other tankers owned by the same Greek operator were also struck. The Acheloos sustained damage in the Strait of Hormuz barrage, while the Asia was hit by a drone in the Black Sea. However, their crews successfully extinguished those fires, and both ships are currently anchored safely for damage assessment. [1, 2, 3]
• The Golden Leo: In the Black Sea, an international cargo vessel sank near Odesa a week after sustaining critical fire and shell damage from Russian forces. [1]

Naval authorities continue to warn commercial mariners that both the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz remain highly volatile "no-go zones" due to active blockades, drone strikes, and naval mining. [1, 2, 3, 4]

I can provide more context on the ongoing U.S. and Iranian military standoff, or look up how international shipping routes are diverting around these chokepoints. Which would you find more helpful? [1, 2]

An oil tanker was abandoned in a Yemen port some time ago that remained there nearly a year (?) but was finally recovered for safety reasons. When was that and what authority recovered it?

The decaying supertanker you are referring to is the FSO Safer, and its oil cargo was successfully recovered by the United Nations (UN) in August 2023. [1, 2]

Rather than just one year, the ship was actually abandoned for eight years—left virtually unmaintained off Yemen's western port of Hudaydah (near the Ras Isa terminal) from the outbreak of the Yemeni civil war in 2015 until its recovery. [1, 2]

The Recovery Operation

• The Authority: The complex salvage operation was coordinated and led by the ⁠United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which raised over $120 million through international crowdfunding to fund the mission. The UN contracted the specialized marine salvage firm SMIT Salvage (a subsidiary of Boskalis) to execute the high-risk physical transfer. [1, 2]
• The Timeline: The ship-to-ship pumping operation officially began on July 25, 2023, and successfully concluded on August 11, 2023. [1, 2]
• The Outcome: A total of 1.14 million barrels of oil were safely transferred from the crumbling hull of the Safer onto a secure replacement vessel named the Yemen (formerly the Nautica). [1, 2]

Why It Was a "Ticking Time Bomb"

Because the vessel’s systems had completely failed, the inert gas required to prevent catastrophic explosions had dissipated. Additionally, seawater had begun leaking into the engine room, putting the vessel at imminent risk of breaking apart or sinking. The UN intervention averted what experts warned would have been an environmental and humanitarian disaster four times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, preserving the marine ecosystem and vital international shipping lanes of the Red Sea. [1, 2, 3]

Do we know why no one wanted to claim or recover that oil for eight years?

The long delay in recovering the oil from the FSO Safer was not due to a lack of interest, but rather a bitter political deadlock and ownership dispute driven by the Yemeni civil war. [1, 2]

The oil cargo was valued at anywhere between $40 million and $80 million, making it a highly prized economic asset in a war-torn country. Three primary roadblocks kept the oil trapped for eight years: [1, 2]

1. The Fight Over Revenue Ownership

The tanker was originally owned by the state-run ⁠Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation. When the war broke out in 2015, two opposing factions claimed they were the legitimate authority entitled to the oil's revenue: [1, 2, 3, 4]

• The Houthi Rebels, who physically seized the coastline where the ship was moored.
• The Internationally Recognized Yemeni Government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition. [1, 2, 3]

Neither side would allow the other to extract or sell the oil, effectively turning the cargo into an economic hostage. [1, 2]

2. Weaponization and Military Suspicion

Because the Houthi forces physically controlled access to the vessel, they weaponized the situation as political leverage. For years, they denied UN inspectors and international salvage experts permission to board the ship. The Houthis feared that allowing international naval or engineering crews near the vessel was a trick, viewing it as a potential cover for a military offensive by their Saudi-backed adversaries. [1, 2]

3. The Salvage Cost vs. Asset Value

Because the dispute prevented the oil from being sold, the oil could not be used to pay for its own recovery. The technical operation to rescue the decaying ship was incredibly dangerous, requiring specialized crews to prevent an explosion of trapped gases. No private maritime company was willing to fund a highly complex $140+ million operation out of pocket while trapped in a legal and literal crossfire. [1, 2, 3]

How the UN Broke the Deadlock

The UN finally bypassed the ownership issue by deciding not to sell the oil immediately. They convinced both sides to agree to just move the oil to a safer vessel first, leaving the financial dispute to be negotiated later. To pay for it, the⁠United Nations Development Programme launched an unprecedented public fundraising campaign, gathering donations from global governments, private corporations, and even a viral crowdfunding campaign led by school children. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Is the current government in Yemen still controlled by that "Saudi led coalition"?

 Yes, the internationally recognized government of Yemen is completely dependent on and heavily directed by Saudi Arabia. However, the old "Saudi-led coalition" itself has fractured, leaving Riyadh as the sole dominant power over the government. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The political and military situation in Yemen breaks down into several key dynamics:

1. Government Dependency on Riyadh

The official government, known as the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), is based in the provisional southern capital of Aden. While it is recognized internationally, its true locus of power has shifted: [1, 2]

• Financial Control: Saudi Arabia completely funds the PLC, directly paying the salaries of its politicians and tens of thousands of its military personnel.
• Decision-Making: The PLC cannot make major military or political moves without a green light from Riyadh. [1, 2]

2. The Collapse of the Coalition

The original multi-nation coalition that entered the war in 2015 no longer exists in its initial form: [1, 2, 3]

• The Saudi-Emirati Split: The United Arab Emirates (UAE)—once Saudi Arabia's primary partner—frequently backed a rival southern separatist faction called the Southern Transitional Council (STC). [1, 2]
• Saudi Takeover: Following a brief civil flare-up in southern Yemen, Saudi-backed government forces drove out the separatists. The UAE officially withdrew all of its remaining military forces, leaving Saudi Arabia in absolute control of the southern territory. [1, 2, 3, 4]

3. A Divided Nation

The PLC does not govern the entire country. Yemen remains strictly divided into two competing authorities: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

• The Houthi De Facto State: The Iran-backed Houthi movement still completely controls northern and western Yemen, including the historic capital of Sana'a and major Red Sea ports like Hodeidah.
• The Saudi-Backed South: The PLC controls the south and east. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

While a fragile UN-brokered truce historically paused direct warfare between the two sides, tensions have aggressively spiked. Following the recent Houthi missile strikes on Saudi tankers, Saudi Arabia has resumed carrying out targeted retaliatory coalition airstrikes against Houthi military sites in Hodeidah. [1, 2, 3]