Houthi-shelled ship goes down
1st sinking in monthslong rebel war
A ship attacked by Houthi rebels sank in the Red Sea Saturday after taking on water for several days — the first vessel to be completely destroyed since the Iran-backed group began targeting ships as revenge for Israel’s ground assault on the Gaza Strip.
The Belize-flagged ship, the Rubymar, had drifted north after it was struck by a Houthi-fired anti-ship missile on Feb. 18 and evacuated in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The sinking was confirmed by the exiled Yemeni government, which said that the Rubymar slipped beneath the surface late Friday amid stormy conditions before plans to tow the damaged vessel to a safe port could be completed.
The Houthi attackers falsely claimed that the ship sank after the initial attack.
The Rubymar was carrying fertilizer and fuel, which could now be leaking into the Red Sea, the US military’s Central Command warned.
‘Environmental disaster’
“It’s a new disaster for our country and our people,” Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, the prime minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, wrote on X of the sinking.
“Every day, we pay for the Houthi militia’s adventures, which were not stopped at plunging Yemen into the coup disaster and war,” he said, calling the loss of the Rubymar “an unprecedented environmental disaster.”
The sinking could prompt yet more detours and higher insurance rates for ships moving through the essential waterway, driving up global inflation and impacting aid shipments to the embattled region.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC showed smaller boats alongside the Rubymar on Wednesday, but it was not clear whose vessels they were.
The images also showed the Rubymar’s stern sinking but otherwise still float.
The new satellite images of the vessel taken Friday appeared to show additional blast damage.
Houthi rebels have been targeting ships in the Red Sea and its surrounding waterways since November.
The damaged vessels have included at least one cargo ship bound for Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship that was also destined for Houthi-controlled territory.
Despite US-led airstrikes against the group, the Houthis insist the attacks will continue until Israel ceases its ground assault of the Gaza Strip. Still, the region has seen an unexplained slowdown in attacks over the past week.