A British-registered freighter has sunk in the Red Sea after the crew were forced to abandon ship following an attack by Yemeni Houti rebels.
The Cargo ship Rubymar, which was abandoned in the southern Red Sea after being targeted by Yemen’s Houthis on February 18, has sunk, a statement by the internationally recognised Yemeni government said on Saturday.
The attack occurred in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, 35 nautical miles south of Al Mukha, Yemen, on Sunday night, the UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, against a vessel that was later identified as the Rubymar.
The crew of the British-registered cargo ship, which comes in at 171.6m long and 27m wide, was forced to ‘abandon the vessel’ following the attack, though the UKMTO said yesterday that all crew are safe and ‘authorities are investigating.’
The first vessel is the first to be fully destroyed as part of their campaign over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
British cargo ship sinks in the Red Sea after being hit by Houthi missiles. (Feb 18) pic.twitter.com/TsxvuAaza2
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 2, 2024
The Rubymar had been drifting northward after being attacked.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government, as well as a regional military official, confirmed the ship sank. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the information had not been cleared for publication.
Yemen’s exiled government, which has been backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, said the Rubymar sank late Friday as stormy weather took hold over the Red Sea. The vessel had been abandoned for 12 days after the attack, though plans had been floated to try and tow the ship to a safe port.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who had claimed the ship sank almost instantly after the attack, did not immediately acknowledge the ship’s sinking.
Already, many ships have turned away from the route. The sinking could see further detours and higher insurance rates put on vessels plying the waterway – potentially driving up global inflation and affecting aid shipments to the region.
Earlier US forces struck and destroyed a Huthi surface-to-air missile in Yemen on Friday after deciding it posed an ‘imminent threat’ to American aircraft, the US Central Command in the Middle East announced.
The Iran-backed Huthis, who control much of war-torn Yemen, have been attacking shipping in the Red Sea since November in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.
The United States is spearheading a naval coalition to protect vessels in the vital waterway, and has also conducted air strikes in Huthi territory, both on its own and alongside Britain.
On Friday afternoon, US ‘forces conducted a self-defense strike against one Iranian-backed Houthi surface-to-air missile that was prepared to launch,’ CENTCOM said in a statement, adding it had ‘determined (the missile) presented an imminent threat to U.S. aircraft in the region.’
It went on to say that the Huthis on Friday night launched an anti-ship missile into the Red Sea, but ‘There was no impact or damage to any vessels.’
Last weekend, US and British forces carried out strikes against 18 Huthi targets across eight locations in Yemen, including weapons storage facilities, attack drones, air defense systems, radars and a helicopter, according to a joint statement.
One person was killed and eight wounded in the attacks, the Huthis’ official news agency said on Sunday.
Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war. Those vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.
Despite over a month of U.S.-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels remain capable of launching significant attacks. That includes the attack on the Rubymar and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars. The Houthis insist their attacks will continue until Israel stops its combat operations in the Gaza Strip, which have enraged the wider Arab world and seen the Houthis gain international recognition.
However, In recent days, there has been a slowdown in attacks. The reason for that remains clear
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre, which watches over Mideast waterways, separately acknowledged the Rubymar’s sinking.
Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, the prime minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, called the ship’s sinking ‘an unprecedented environmental disaster.’
‘It’s a new disaster for our country and our people,’ he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. ‘Every day, we pay for the Houthi militia’s adventures, which were not stopped at plunging Yemen into the coup disaster and war.’
The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, expelling the government. Its fought a Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in a stalemated war.
