AL-MUKALLA: Tawfeeq Al-Sharjabi, Yemen’s water and environment minister, said they are in a race against time to save a sinking ship laden with thousands of tonnes of fertilizer in the Red Sea, urging international assistance to prevent an ecological disaster.
On Feb. 18, Yemen’s Houthi militia launched missiles at the MV Rubymar, a Belize-flagged and Lebanese-operated ship, badly damaging it and causing a large oil slick in the Red Sea.
Yemen’s government organized an emergency committee on Saturday and issued a frantic plea to nations and marine conservation bodies to assist in rescuing the ship and preventing a possible environmental calamity in the Red Sea. “The situation is grave, and the ship is at risk of sinking,” Al-Sharjabi told Arab News by telephone.
Yemeni officials said the Houthi missiles damaged the ship’s engine room, causing saltwater to fill it, and that they are now in touch with the ship’s owners and international organizations to send tugs to tow it after draining it of water. The danger, according to the Yemeni minister, stems from the ship’s cargo of 22,000 tonnes of ammonium phosphate-sulfate NPS fertilizer, which, although unaffected by the missiles, might explode or flow into the ocean if the ship sunk or struck the coast. “Efforts are now underway to bring a tugboat to remove water from the ship, balance it, return it to its usual position, and then tow it to the closest shore,” Al-Sharjabi said.
The Houthis vowed this week to trade the recovery of the British-owned ship for humanitarian supplies to Gaza, raising concerns that they may use the ship as leverage. Despite stating that they have not received formal threats from the Houthis, Al-Sharjabi urged the militia not to obstruct the ship’s rescue attempts, adding that Yemenis throughout the nation, including those living in Houthi-controlled regions, will suffer from an ecological calamity. “This is a worthless bargain and just balloons in the air,” he said.
Capt. Yeslem Mubarak, vice executive chairman of the Maritime Affairs Authority and a member of the government’s commission dealing with the sinking ship, told Arab News on Tuesday that the ship is 16 nautical miles from Yemen’s Red Sea town of Mocha and 20 nautical miles from the island of Hanish. He added that it has no connection to Israel and is owned by a Syrian businessman. “The ship is in an unstable condition and is going to sink,” Mubarak said.
Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship and fired hundreds of drones and missiles at commercial and naval ships going through the Red Sea, enforcing a ban on Israel-linked or Israel-bound vessels transiting through the key maritime channel. The Houthis claim that their activities are intended to push Israel to remove its blockade of Gaza.
To halt the Houthi attacks on ships, the US and its allies have launched hundreds of airstrikes on Sanaa, Saada, and other Houthi-controlled regions in Yemen, hitting ammunition, drone and missile storage facilities, drone and missile launchers, and other targets.
On Tuesday morning, the US Central Command said it had foiled Houthi assaults on ships on Monday by destroying three drone boats, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and a drone in Yemen that were all intended to target commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea.
