British ship sinking in Red Sea after Houthi attack
A British container ship hit by Houthi missiles is slowly sinking in the Red Sea.
Footage from Houthis-run media shows the Rubymar, a British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo vessel, listing and disappearing into the water.
Laden with 41,000 tons of fertiliser which is now feared a major environmental risk, the ship was attacked as it sailed through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
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Rubymar is barely afloat after a Houthi attack. Al Joumhouria
The missile attack forced the 24 crew members to abandon the vessel, which had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates.
Satellite images showed the stricken vessel leaking oil in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have launched at least 57 attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 19, and the pace has picked up in recent days.
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Crew members abandoned the ship on the day of the attack. Al Joumhouria
The ship was hit by a Houthi missile in the Bab al Mandeb Strait on 18 February. Al Joumhouria
In this satellite image provided by Planet Labs, the Belize-flagged bulk carrier Rubymar is seen in the southern Red Sea near the Bay el-Mandeb Strait leaking oil after an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels. AP
During normal operations, about 400 commercial vessels transit the southern Red Sea at any given time.
While the Houthi attacks have only actually struck a small number of vessels, the persistent targeting and near misses that have been shot down by the US and allies have prompted shipping companies to reroute their vessels from the Red Sea.
Instead, they have sent them around Africa through the Cape of Good Hope - a much longer, costlier and less efficient passage.
With Associated Press
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