A British cargo ship carrying fertilizer was sunk on Friday after being attacked by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen, potentially causing an environmental disaster in the area, according to a report from U.S. Central Command.
The Rubymar was attacked by a Houthi anti-ship missile on February 18 but remained afloat for several days, allowing British authorities to rescue the 24-person crew.
The ship had been slowly taking on water since the unprovoked attack.
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The ship finally sank, carrying 21,000 metric tons of fertilizer intended for Bulgaria, raising concerns about the impact on marine life in the Red Sea and surrounding areas.
“The approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer that the vessel was carrying presents an environmental risk in the Red Sea. As the ship sinks, it also presents a subsurface impact risk to other ships transiting the busy shipping lanes of the waterway,” said USCC.
Attempts to clean up the affected area will likely be difficult because the Houthis continue to target ships in the area.
Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, the prime minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, called the ship’s sinking “an unprecedented environmental disaster.”
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“It’s a new disaster for our country and our people,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Every day, we pay for the Houthi militia’s adventures, which were not stopped at plunging Yemen into the coup disaster and war.”
Despite more than a month of US-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels are still capable of launching major attacks. This includes the attack on the Rubymar and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.
The Houthis insist that their attacks will continue until Israel ends its combat operations in the Gaza Strip, which have enraged the Arab world and earned the Houthis international recognition.
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