A British-owned bulk carrier was hit by multiple missiles on February 18, causing an oil slick in the Red Sea.
Yemen's internationally recognized government says the abandoned cargo ship Rubimar has sunk in the southern Red Sea after being targeted by Houthi rebels last month.
“The MV Rubima sank last night due to a combination of weather factors and strong winds at sea,” the Yemeni government's crisis management office, which is in charge of the incident, said in a statement on Saturday.
A military official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists confirmed the incident. The UK Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO), which monitors Middle East waterways, also separately confirmed the sinking of the Rubimar, AP reported.
The Belize-flagged, British-owned cargo ship Rubimar, which was transporting flammable fertilizer, was attacked by a missile on February 18 while sailing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The crew then abandoned ship and evacuated to a safe location.
Yemen's Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel, the United States and Britain in an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Gaza.
The sinking of the Rubimaa was the first ship loss since the Iranian-backed Houthis began targeting commercial shipping in November.
Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, chairman of the Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee, said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his government were responsible for the sinking of the ship because the group supported “genocide” and “siege” in Gaza. insisted.
“Mr Sunak has a chance to retrieve Rubimar by allowing aid trucks into Gaza,” he added in a post on social media platform X late Saturday.
Potential “environmental catastrophe”
A Yemeni government statement said the ship sank on Friday night and warned of an “environmental catastrophe.”
Yemen's internationally recognized government is based in the southern port of Aden, but the Houthis control much of the north and other large cities.
U.S. Central Command previously announced that the ship was carrying more than 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it was attacked.
On Monday, a Yemeni government team visited the Rubimar and said it was partially submerged and could sink within days.
The U.S. military previously said the attack severely damaged the cargo ship and caused an 18-mile (29-kilometer) oil slick.
The organization said the Houthi attack on an Israeli-aligned transport ship was a response to Israel's war in Gaza.
The attack disrupted international trade along the shortest sea route between Europe and Asia.
Rerouting a ship around the Cape of Good Hope on South Africa's Cape Peninsula can add up to two weeks and an extra 3,000 to 6,000 nautical miles (5,556 to 11,112 km) for cargo to navigate.
In response to attacks on ships, the US and UK launched strikes against targets in Yemen in January. The United States also renamed the Houthis a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organization.
The attack and counterattack have raised concerns that Israel's war in Gaza will expand and destabilize the entire Middle East.