On Sunday, the United Kingdom held the Houthi group responsible for the consequences of the sinking of the “Rubimar” ship carrying thousands of tons of fertilizer in the Red Sea, in light of the escalation of Houthi attacks against commercial ships and international shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The British Embassy in Yemen said, in a statement on the “X” platform: “The Houthi group bears responsibility for the environmental impacts resulting from the sinking of the MV Rubymar in the Red Sea.”
She added that despite international efforts, the MV Rubymar, a Lebanese cargo ship flying the Belize flag, has now sunk and will now leak the 41,000 tons of fertilizer it was carrying and its fuel into the Red Sea.
She stressed that the sinking of the ship “constitutes an environmental danger, and the Houthis bear full responsibility.”
The statement indicated that the United Kingdom, along with its international partners, has repeatedly condemned the reckless and unacceptable attacks launched by the Houthis.
She pointed out that “were it not for international efforts to protect international commercial shipping, a greater number of ships would have suffered this fate.”
Britain called on the Houthi group to stop their “reckless and unacceptable” attacks on international trade corridors in the Red and Arab Bahrain and the Gulf of Aden, and to give priority to the interests of the Yemenis over all other interests.
Earlier, a leader in the Houthi group threatened to sink more British ships, a day after a British ship sank in the Red Sea west of the country.
Hussein Al-Ezzi, Deputy Foreign Minister of the internationally unrecognized Houthi government, said in a post on the “In sponsoring the ongoing crime against civilians in Gaza.”
Yesterday, Saturday, the Yemeni government announced that the British ship sank in the Red Sea due to weather factors and strong winds.
On February 18, the Houthi group announced that it had targeted the cargo ship "Rubimar" in the Red Sea with several naval missiles, causing it to be seriously injured and making it in danger of sinking.
The ship carries “thousands of tons of fertilizers and fuel, and is about 16 miles from the Yemeni mainland,” according to the Yemeni government.