The Rubymar cargo ship, attacked last month, has sunk in the southern Red Sea, Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government said in a statement on Saturday.If verified, it would be the first vessel lost since Houthi militants began targeting commercial shipping in November.The government statement said the ship sunk on Friday night and warned of an \u201cenvironmental catastrophe\u201d.The ship was carrying more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it came under attack, the U.S. military\u2019s Central Command previously said.Yemen\u2019s Houthi militants have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea region since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.On Monday, a Yemeni government team visited the Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned cargo ship, and said it was partially submerged and could sink within a couple of days.The U.S. military previously said the attack had significantly damaged the freighter and caused an 18-mile (29-km) oil slick.The United States Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet did not immediately respond to a request to confirm the sinking on Saturday.MOKHA ATTACKIn two separate reports on Saturday the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it had received a report of a ship being attacked 15 nautical miles west of Yemen\u2019s port of Mokha.\u201cThe crew took the vessel to anchor and were evacuated by military authorities,\u201d the UKMTO said in an advisory note.Separately, the UKMTO reported a ship sinking.Neither report named the Rubymar though both incidents occurred in the vicinity of where the Rubymar was last seen.Houthi attacks have prompted shipping firms to divert vessels on to the longer, more expensive route around southern Africa. They have also stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread, destabilising the wider Middle East.The United States and Britain began striking Houthi targets in Yemen in January in retaliation for the attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden.Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government is based in the southern port of Aden while the Houthis control much of the north and other large centres.(Reuters)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Rubymar cargo ship, attacked last month, has sunk in the southern Red Sea according to Yemen\u2019s internationally recognized government. This incident marks the first vessel loss since Houthi militants began targeting commercial shipping in November. The ship was carrying over 41,000 tons of fertilizer. Yemen\u2019s Houthi militants have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea region since mid-November, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The attack on the Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned cargo ship, caused significant damage and resulted in an 18-mile oil slick. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported a ship sinking and another being attacked near Yemen\u2019s port of Mokha, without naming the Rubymar. Shipping firms have diverted vessels to a longer route around southern Africa due to these attacks. The United States and Britain have retaliated against Houthi targets in Yemen since January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[589,383,195,3,145,415,298,496,700,487,299,387,712,69,714,462,701,1029,124,796,1006,494,197,544,293,18,685],"class_list":["post-3463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-africa","tag-attack","tag-britain","tag-cyprus","tag-gaza","tag-government","tag-hamas","tag-houthi","tag-houthis","tag-incidents","tag-israel","tag-lost","tag-maritime","tag-middle-east","tag-navy","tag-palestinians","tag-red-sea","tag-rubymar","tag-ship","tag-shipping","tag-trade","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states","tag-war","tag-world","tag-yemen"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n