Aden, Yemen:
Yemen’s internationally recognized government said on Saturday that the British-owned Rubymar, which was attacked by Houthi militants last month, sank in the Red Sea and warned that the fertilizer the ship was carrying would cause an “environmental disaster”.
If confirmed, it would be the first ship to go missing since the Houthis began targeting commercial shipping in November, forcing shipping companies to divert vessels to longer, more expensive routes around southern Africa.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who control northern Yemen and other large centers, say they are standing in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
Their attacks triggered a series of strikes against their positions by the U.S. and British and other navies, sending ships to the area in an attempt to protect a vital trade route.
Italy’s defense ministry said on Saturday that one of its naval ships shot down a drone heading towards it in the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, the Houthis’ Transport Ministry said there was a “fault” in undersea communications cables in the Red Sea due to the actions of US and British naval vessels. It did not provide further details.
A Yemeni government team visited the Belize-flagged cargo ship Rubymar on Monday and said the vessel was partially submerged. The ship sank in the southern Red Sea on Friday night, a government statement said on Saturday.
The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the sinking.
UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Saturday that a ship had sunk but did not identify it.
The U.S. military previously said the attack caused severe damage to the cargo ship and created an 18-mile (29-kilometer) long oil slick. The U.S. military said the ship was carrying more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it was attacked.
Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, foreign minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government in Aden, posted on X: “The sinking of the Ruby is an environmental disaster the likes of which Yemen and the region have never experienced.
“This is a new tragedy for our country and our people. We pay the price every day for the Houthi militia’s adventures…”
The internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia, has been at war with the Houthis since 2014.
Marine life is threatened
Ali Al-Sawarmi, director of the Marine Science Station at the University of Jordan, said the release of such large amounts of fertilizer into the Red Sea poses a serious threat to marine life.
Excess nutrients can stimulate overgrowth of algae, which consumes so much oxygen that normal marine life cannot survive, a process called eutrophication, Savarmi described.
“Red Sea countries should adopt urgent plans to develop a monitoring agenda for contaminated areas in the Red Sea and adopt clean-up strategies,” he said.
Xingchen Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College, said the overall impact depends on how ocean currents consume the fertilizer and how it is released from the stricken ships.
The ecosystem of the southern Red Sea features pristine coral reefs, coastal mangroves and diverse marine life.
Last year, when the United Nations removed more than 1 million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker anchored off the coast of Yemen, the region averted a potential environmental disaster. In the current situation, this operation may be more difficult.
The Houthi attack has raised concerns that the war between Israel and Hamas could spread and destabilize the entire Middle East.
In a separate report, the British Maritime Trade Organization said it had received reports that a ship had been attacked 15 nautical miles west of the Yemeni port of Moka.
“Military authorities anchored the vessel and evacuated the crew,” UK Maritime Trade said in an advisory.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
