A POWERFUL salvage tug may be stationed in the Red Sea as early as this week amid increased concern about the violent threat to shipping posed by the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Megatugs Salvage & Towage said on Wednesday that its salvage vessel Giant was ready to sail for the region.

The 2003-built tug has been undergoing outfitting and upgrading at Onex Elefsis Shipyard for the past two months in preparation for its new role, but the security picture deteriorated abruptly earlier this month with deadly attacks on two Greek-owned bulk carriers.

Giant, the former Atlantic Osprey that was acquired by Megatugs in May, was visited by Greece’s minister of shipping & island policy Vassilis Kikilias on Wednesday prior to its departure for Suez.

It was expected to sail with a crew of 14 specialised Greek seafarers, but it has accommodation for up to 40 people, sufficient for carrying security personnel as well as potentially for picking up rescued survivors from casualties.

“There is a lot of risk in the Red Sea at the moment but we will take a careful approach,” said Megatugs chief executive Paul Xiradakis.

The company was working with security company Diaplous Group and was receiving intelligence from various sources, Xiradakis said.

It is “closely liaising” with Greece’s shipping and defence ministries, as well as EU Navfor Operation Aspides, the European naval operation tasked with helping to protect shipping in the region.

Megatugs came to international attention last year when it was the salvage company that pulled off the rescue of the burning Greek-owned suezmax tanker Sounion (IMO: 9312145) and its cargo of 150,000 tonnes of crude oil after a Houthi attack last August.

The company sent two of its vessels from Greece for the salvage operation that lasted several months.

It later emerged that experts who had been involved in the contracting of salvage help for the tanker had initially estimated the chances of success at only 5%.

Xiradakis said that Giant will be the sole properly equipped salvage tug currently stationed in the area.

The US recently lifted sanctions on two tugs, Hercules (IMO: 9558517) and Gladiator (IMO: 7621011), which have been engaged in several prior cases for towage of vessels attacked by the Houthis.

Sanctions against their operator, Dubai-based Swedish Management, were also lifted.

But although they were originally lined up for the Sounion operation, the situation of the tanker was such that they backed out and Megatugs was hired instead.

According to Xiradakis, Giant will not be positioned exclusively to aid vessels that are attacked by the Houthis.

“The scope is providing emergency response to vessels in distress, including the saving of lives, protecting the marine environment and protection of property,” he said.

“It’s a big tug and it’s strong in terms of power so it can handle a large container vessel or a large tanker,” he said.

Capabilities include having a bollard poll of 181 tonnes, suitable for towing and holding large ships.

It has a FiFi 2 firefighting system for lengthy firefighting duties, able to project water distances of 180 m at a rate of 7,200 cu m per hour.

“We have added a significant amount of new equipment,” Xiradakis said. “In that area it’s difficult to find equipment or spare parts so you really need to be properly equipped to be able to do your job efficiently.”