Russia Evacuates Stranded Tanker Crew from Yemen

 

A month after reporting that three crewmembers from the product tanker Seven Pears (53,700 dwt) had been injured during the strikes on Houthi positions in the port of Ras Isa in Yemen, Russian officials are reporting the remainder of the crew of the tanker has been evacuated. The ship was caught at anchor near the port when the U.S. started strikes on the port complex.

The Russian embassy in Yemen reported that the crewmembers of the tanker were injured, “most likely as a result of the American air strike on the infrastructure facilities.” At the time the embassy said that three crewmembers were in a hospital in Sanaa. It said that one was going to need complex eye surgery.

The Seven Pearls, registered in St. Kitts and Nevis but managed from Dubai in the UAE, was one of several vessels in the port. Reports after the U.S. air strikes said the Houthis had not permitted vessels to leave the port.

The Russian Charge d’Affaires in Yemen, Yevgeny Kudrov told TASS that the shipping company was making arrangements in the days after the air strikes to evacuate the three injured seafarers. At the time, the other 19 crewmembers were staying aboard the ship and reported they had sufficient supplies.

TASS now reports the remaining crew of the vessel flew on May 25 from Sanaa to Amman in Jordan and was returning to Russia. The product tanker however remains in Ras Isa. Records show that the tanker had regularly traded between the UAE, Djibouti, and Houthi areas of Yemen.

While the U.S. suspended its attacks on the ports and Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, Israel on May 11 issued a warning telling civilians to evacuate the port areas of Ras Isa, Hodeidah, and Salif. Days later on May 16, Israel retaliated for the Houthi missile attacks by bombing the ports. Israeli officials after the strikes said they believed the ports had been disabled for months.