Ship sunk after Houthi attack threatens environment

The ship sank in the Red Sea on Saturday after being hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile on February 19, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) responsible for the Middle East said on Saturday evening.

The approximately 21,000 tons of ammonium phosphate-based fertilizer on board the freighter “pose an environmental risk in the Red Sea,” CENTCOM said in the statement. The sunken ship also “poses a risk to other ships passing through the waterway’s busy shipping lanes.” The Yemeni government confirmed that the ship sank.

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies published by AFP show fuel leaking from the freighter. According to the website TankerTrackers, “an environmental catastrophe is looming in (Yemeni) territorial waters and the Red Sea.” Greenpeace has also warned of an “environmental catastrophe”.

Crew to safety

The freighter was on its way from the United Arab Emirates to the Bulgarian port of Varna. The crew got to safety after the fire.

The Iran-backed Houthi militia has stepped up attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas began in October. This is why many shipping companies are now avoiding the important maritime trade route, through which twelve percent of global maritime trade is normally carried out.

Houthi is part of the “Axis of Resistance”

The Houthis see themselves as part of the “Axis of Resistance” directed against Israel and supported by Iran, which includes Hamas and the Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.

At the end of 2014, war broke out in Yemen between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the government army in the capital Sanaa. The Houthis overthrew President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, whom they accused of corruption and mismanagement. The leadership in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh was concerned that the influence of the Shiite Houthis, and thus of arch-rival Iran, could grow on its southern border. In 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened in the conflict in Yemen and forged an alliance of Sunni countries against the Houthis. Today, the Saudi-backed government controls the south of the country, while the Houthi rebels control the north.

After the sinking of the “Rubymar”, Houthi rebels declare that they will attack more ships from Great Britain in the Gulf of Aden. This was announced by Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister of the Houthi-led regime, on the X platform. “It is a rogue state that is attacking Yemen and colluding with America to support ongoing crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip,” it said.

info By clicking on the icon you can add the keyword to your topics.

info
By clicking on the icon you open your “my topics” page. They have of 15 keywords saved and would have to remove keywords.

info By clicking on the icon you can remove the keyword from your topics.

Add the topic to your topics.