The U.S. Central Command confirmed today, Sunday, that the British vessel "Rubymar" sank in the Red Sea after being struck by a Houthi ballistic missile on February 18. In a statement on the "X" platform, they stated that the "Rubymar" was carrying approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium sulfate fertilizer, posing an environmental risk in the Red Sea. They added that the sunken ship presents a collision hazard to other vessels passing through the Red Sea.
In the first incident of its kind since the Houthi escalation in the Red Sea, the Yemeni government announced yesterday, Saturday, that the cargo ship "Rubymar," targeted by the group last month, has sunk in the Red Sea, warning of an environmental catastrophe. The crisis cell formed by the Yemeni government to address the ship's crisis noted that the outcome was predictable due to the ship being left to its fate for more than 12 days without responding to the Yemeni government's pleas to avoid disaster. The cell stated that it is in constant session to discuss subsequent steps and determine the best ways to deal with the ramifications and address the environmental disaster caused by the incident.
However, a media spokesperson affiliated with the Houthis dismissed the possibility that the group had targeted the sunken British ship again, arguing that the group had not announced a renewed targeting. Tawfiq Al-Hamiri, the media advisor to the Houthi Ministry of Information, stated in a special statement to the Arab World News Agency that another party may have targeted it, pointing fingers at the United States, which he described as the primary suspect. He also considered the accusation against the group of re-targeting the ship before it sank to be "an attempt to confuse the issues to create chaos" and disrupt an offer that the Houthis had made to allow the retrieval of the ship in exchange for permitting aid to enter Gaza, according to his statement.
He suggested that the issue was an attempt to direct accusations at the group for a crime they themselves committed, referring to the international forces present in the Red Sea. He added, "We fully understand that the Americans are the first of the accused parties. If the targeting serves Israel, this is not unlikely." He justified this by stating that "there was an offer made to the British and to mediators, with the last proposal presented to Qatar as a mediating country, that the ship could be retrieved if aid trucks were allowed to enter Gaza. Therefore, there are those who want to undermine this deal if it enters the negotiation phase."
Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a leader in the group, held British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak responsible for the sinking of the "Rubymar." It is noteworthy that the targeting of the British ship last month caused an oil spill in the Red Sea extending 18 miles, amid fears of toxic materials leaking from the ship's cargo of 41,000 tons of fertilizer.
