A British cargo ship, the Rubymar, was forced to evacuate its crew after a missile attack by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels off Yemen’s coast.
The attack occurred early Friday, February 16th, in the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea, severely damaging the ship’s engine room and raising doubts about its ability to stay afloat.
The vessel, weighing 32,000 tons, was en route through the 20-mile-wide strait when it sustained critical damage from two missile strikes, prompting an immediate evacuation to ensure crew safety.
The Houthi faction has acknowledged orchestrating the strike, suggesting the damage inflicted might cause the Rubymar to sink in the Gulf of Aden.
“During the operation, we made sure that the ship’s crew exited safely,” stated Houthi spokesperson Ameen Hayyan.
Rescue efforts saw the crew being safely transferred to United States-led Red Sea Coalition ships, which rapidly responded to the distress signals approximately 35 miles south of Al Mukha, a port city in Yemen.
In a statement, the Royal Navy’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations assured that all crew members were safe and protected by military authorities providing on-scene assistance.
The Rubymar had set sail from the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, February 11th, heading towards Bulgaria before the incident.
This attack comes in the wake of the U.S. executing five airstrikes against Houthi-controlled targets in Yemen, aimed at curbing the group’s capability to threaten international maritime traffic in the region.
The U.S. Central Command confirmed that the strikes targeted three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, one underwater drone, and one maritime drone, deemed immediate threats to naval and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have escalated their assaults on international shipping lanes, extending their targets to include Israeli, American, and British vessels in a purported show of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
This expansion of targets follows allied forces’ intensified airstrikes on Houthi strongholds in Yemen, marking a sharp uptick in regional maritime tensions.
The escalating assaults by the Houthis have severely disrupted marine traffic in the Red Sea, a vital waterway responsible for approximately 12% of global maritime transit.
As a result, numerous shipping firms and oil companies have suspended voyages through the Red Sea or diverted vessels to traverse the longer and more expensive route around the Cape of Good Hope.
