Satellite imagery obtained by Business Insider captures the difficult mission to rescue an oil tanker stranded in the Red Sea nearly a month after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels first attacked the vessel.

The delicate rescue mission aimed to head off a major environmental disaster after the oil tanker was attacked by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen last month.

A burning oil tanker that was attacked by Yemen’s Houthi movement has been towed to a safe area in the Red Sea without any spill, an EU naval mission says.

The Sounion reached waters away from Yemen as the Houthis meanwhile claimed that they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone, with video circulating online showing what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile strike and flaming wreckage strewn across the ground.

The operation has started to tow a Greek-registered oil tanker stranded in the Red Sea after an attack by Houthi militants last month, a shipping source told Reuters on Saturday.

Salvors began towing the Greek-flagged tanker Sounion, still burning from attacks by Houthi militia in late August. The vessel became a symbol of civilian shipping targets that have led container