Ship sunk by Houthis threatens Red Sea environment, Yemeni government says
ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) – The UK-owned Rubymar, attacked by Houthi terrorists last month, has sunk in the Red Sea, Yemen’s internationally recognized government said on Saturday, warning of an “environmental catastrophe” from the ship’s cargo of fertilizer.
If confirmed, it would be the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial shipping in November, forcing shipping firms to divert vessels to the longer, more expensive route around southern Africa.
The terrorists say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
On Monday, a Yemeni government team visited the Rubymar, a Belize-flagged cargo ship, and said it was partially submerged. A government statement on Saturday said the ship had sunk in the southern Red Sea on Friday night.
The United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet did not immediately respond to a request to confirm the sinking.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency on Saturday reported a ship sinking but did not identify it.
The US military previously said the attack had significantly damaged the freighter and caused an 18-mile (29-km) oil slick. It was carrying more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it came under attack, it said.
Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, foreign minister in Yemen’s Aden-based government, which
is backed by Saudi Arabia, said in a post on X, “The sinking of the Rubymar is an environmental catastrophe that Yemen and the region have never experienced before.
“It is a new tragedy for our country and our people. Every day, we pay the price for the adventures of the Houthi militia.”
The internationally recognized government is based in Aden, while the Houthis have gained control of the north and other large centers since a war that began in 2014.
Marine life threatened
The release of some 41,000 tons of fertilizer into the waters of the Red Sea poses a serious threat to marine life, said Ali Al-Sawalmih, director of the Marine Science Station at the University of Jordan.
The overload of nutrients can stimulate excessive growth of
algae, using up so much oxygen that regular marine life cannot survive, said Al-Sawalmih, describing a process called eutrophication.
“An urgent plan should be adopted by countries at the Red Sea to establish a monitoring agenda for the polluted areas in the Red Sea as well as adopt a cleanup strategy,” he said.
The overall impact depends on how ocean currents deplete the fertilizer and how it is released from the stricken vessel, said Xingchen Tony Wang, assistant professor at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College.
The ecosystem of the southern Red Sea features pristine coral reefs, coastal mangroves, and diverse marine life.
“If the ship is salvaged before significant leakage occurs, it may be possible to prevent a major ecological disaster,” Wang said.
Last year, the area avoided a
potential environmental disaster when the United Nations removed more than one million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker moored off the Yemeni coast. That type of operation may be more difficult in the current circumstances.
The Houthi attacks have stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread, destabilizing the wider Middle East.
The United States and Britain began striking Houthi targets in Yemen in January in retaliation for the attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and Gulf of Aden.
In a separate report, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO) said it had received a report of a ship being attacked 15 nautical miles west of Yemen’s port of Mokha.
“The crew took the vessel to anchor and were evacuated by military authorities,” the UKMTO said in an advisory note.