Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping jeopardise recovery of stricken vessel
Continued attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Iranbacked Houthi militia could jeopardise the recovery of the stricken cargo ship MV Rubymar, which was abandoned after being struck by missiles last week.
Experts told The National that failure to recover the ship could lead to an environmental disaster in the Red Sea as its cargo of 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser could damage the region’s fragile ecology.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they would continue their near-daily missile and drone attacks on civilian shipping in the Red Sea unless Israel stopped its war on Gaza.
The Houthi attacks and counterstrikes by US and UK aircraft complicate what experts say would be a difficult recovery operation, even during peacetime.
If the Rubymar is saved from sinking, there will still be “the question of where to take her and how to deal with the hazardous cargo”, said James Brewin, an expert on maritime salvage in the UK.
“This will be a tricky question as most ports will be reluctant to welcome her in.”
Djibouti has already refused to accept the ship, calling its cargo dangerous.
The ship has been taking on water since it was hit by two Houthi ballistic missiles, one of which pierced its side.
On Tuesday, images showed the vessel’s stern submerged to deck level. Fuel leaking from the ship has created a 30km slick.
On Tuesday, US deputy assistant secretary of defence Daniel Shapiro said the Houthis were committed to continuing their campaign to sever the Red Sea trade route, which accounts for up to 15 per cent of maritime trade.
Washington said this week that 230 targets had been struck in Yemen, including Houthi missile launch sites, headquarters and drones. A naval mission is also continuing, with US ships intercepting vessels disguised as civilian boats, which are carrying arms from Iran to the Houthis.
A German warship on Tuesday shot down two drones as part of a five-drone attack, days after joining the EU’s Aspides mission to protect maritime trade in the Red Sea, alongside the US-led Prosperity Guardian operation.
The Houthis may be reluctant to aid in the recovery of the Rubymar – as happened with the FSO Safer, a ship carrying more than one million barrels of oil that the group seized at anchor and left to deteriorate while using it as a bargaining chip.
Oil on the Safer was transferred to another ship, after warnings of an impending environmental disaster.
“No one wants to let the Rubymar into their ports because of the risk and, making matters worse, the weather is deteriorating and there are storms forecast. So it is bad and could get worse,” said Ian Ralby, of maritime security company IR Consilium.
Maoz Fine, an expert on coral reef conservation at the Interuniversity Institute of Marine Science, said a risk assessment of the ship’s cargo must be completed quickly.
“The amount of fertiliser on the Rubymar may indeed cause an algal bloom if it remains in shallow waters, but less of a problem if it sinks to great depth,” Mr Fine said.
Concern from nearby ports could also relate to the potentially explosive cargo.
“Over 20,000 tonnes is a big explosion risk,” said Wim Zwijnenburg, a UN Green Star Award-winning expert on the environmental effects of war. “As for the impact on the water, I assume it’s all packaged, so depends on how it’s wrapped, but one can only hope for quick dilution. If not, it’s likely going to cause some local impact on fisheries and marine ecosystems.”
Recovering the ship could present risks to salvagers, Mr Brewin said.
“Priorities for owners will be very much in the order of safety of life and protection of the environment, and saving the vessel herself. Since the crew were safely evacuated, one job becomes about the safety of any salvage team deployed to assist,” he said.
“It’s likely that some intervention by divers will be required … to prevent further fuel oil leakage and secure buoyancy. That could involve sealing up apertures in the hull, patching areas of damage below the water line, potentially pumping out water from the flooded engine room.”