Dated image of oil tanker falsely portrayed as 'Sounion fire in August 2024'

"Oil tanker attacked in Red Sea. 21/08/2024," read a Thai-language Facebook post that shared the photo that same day.

"Reuters, citing the Greek Ministry of Transport, reported that the oil tanker Sounion under the Greek flag has been immobilised in the Red Sea."

Image

Screenshot of the false post, taken on August 23, 2024 (FS)

The post shows a dramatic photo of a tanker burning with black smoke billowing into the sky.

AFP did report that the Greek-flagged Sounion was attacked by Huthi rebels off the Yemeni port of Hodeida on August 21 (archived link).

However, the image -- which circulated in similar Facebook posts here, here and here -- was in fact taken years earlier. 

Gulf of Oman fire

A reverse image search and keyword search revealed the image, published by AFP, shows the Norwegian-owned tanker Front Altair attacked in the Gulf of Oman in 2019.

The photo in AFP's archives is captioned: "A picture obtained by AFP from Iranian News Agency ISNA on June 13, 2019 reportedly shows fire and smoke billowing from Norwegian owned Front Altair tanker said to have been attacked in the waters of the Gulf of Oman."

Image

Screenshot of the original image published in AFP's archives

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in false Facebooks post (left) and the original image published by AFP (right):

Image

Screenshot comparison of the image in false Facebooks post (left) and the original image published by AFP (right)

Front Altair was one of two tankers struck by explosions near the Strait of Hormuz, the second assault in a month in the strategic shipping lane amid a tense US-Iran standoff.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for the attacks but Iran denied any responsibility (archived link).

The image featured in various news reports about the strikes, including by The Associated Press news agency and Al Jazeera (archived links here and here).

Front Altair's operator, the Norwegian company Frontline, released a statement at the time confirming that all crew members on board were safely evacuated (archived link).

AFP has debunked more misinformation around the Huthi attacks here.