News / Rubymar sinks, with cargo of fertiliser a threat to Red Sea ecosystem

Photo: US Central Command

General-cargo ship Rubymar, abandoned in the Red Sea with its cargo of fertiliser, finally went under on Saturday after a fortnight of gradually sinking, becoming the Israel-Palestine conflict’s first vessel casualty.

The vessel was hit by a Yemeni anti-ship missile on 18 February, after it was linked by the Houthis to a company headquartered in the UK, and subsequently described as “British” in all their communications.

Gradually taking on water, the vessel was refused entry to ports in the UAE, Africa, Saudi Arabia and Oman – in many cases for fear of reprisal, according to one expert quoted by S&P Global.

“No one came to assist in salvaging the ship, probably because they feared for their safety if they did anything, as the Houthis are very unpredictable,” said the anonymous source. “At the end of the day, the Houthis are ultimately responsible for this terrible outcome, no one else.”

And a Yemeni official warned: “Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britain’s bill.”

Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister in the Houthi-led government,Tweeted: “It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza.”

But Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, head of Yemen’s General People’s Congress (GPC), instead described the sinking as “an unprecedented environmental disaster… for our country and our people.”

There are concerns that the Rubymar’s cargo of 18,000 tonnes of ammonium phosphate sulphate fertiliser, loaded in Saudi Arabia, could affect Saudi drinking water.

Saudi Arabia has the largest array of desalination plants in the world, with various cities unable to provide drinking water without them, and the Red Sea’s largely enclosed ecosystem means any ecological damage is liable to affect Yemeni and Saudi shores, and be long-lasting.

Fertiliser spillages have previously been associated with algal blooms that strip the water of nutrients and kill fish, coral reefs and other marine life and are terrible news for the fishing industry, one of Yemen’s largest exports.

Although the Houthi leadership claims the attacks on shipping will stop when Israel stops attacks in Gaza, Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime, has said he does not believe this, adding: “…it appears more to be a targeted and deliberate (and successful) campaign to create regional instability – and the more nations that are pulled into the conflict, the larger the potential for instability.”

And he again highlighted the global nature of shipping, pointing out that the Rubymar also had links with Belize, Marshall Islands, Lebanon, Honduras, UAE, Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia.

“It serves as a good illustration of the futility of trying to assign a single nationality to a vessel – shipping is simply too global and complex for that approach to have much meaning,” he said.