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Ship sunk by Houthis threatens Red Sea environment, Yemen federal government and United States military say

A UKowned ship attacked by Houthi militants last month sank in the Red Sea, the U.S. military validated on Saturday, as it echoed a caution from Yemen's worldwide recognised federal government that the vessel's. cargo of harmful fertiliser positioned a threat to marine life.

The Belize-registered Rubymar is the first vessel lost since. the Houthis started targeting commercial ships in November. Those. drone and rocket attacks have forced shipping companies to divert. ships to the longer route around southern Africa, interfering with. worldwide trade by delaying deliveries and sending expenses higher.

The sinking bulk provider likewise presents a subsurface impact. danger to other ships transiting the busy shipping lanes of the. waterway, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in its statement. on social media platform X.

The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control the north of Yemen and. other big centres, say their campaign is a show of solidarity. with Palestinians in Gaza.

The Houthi attacks have triggered a series of strikes against. their positions by the United States and Britain, and have led. other navies to send out vessels to the area to try to safeguard the. vital Suez Canal trade route.

The Rubymar went down in the southern Red Sea late on Friday. or early on Saturday, according to statements from the Yemen. federal government and CENTCOM.

The U.S. military previously stated the Feb. 18 rocket attack. had actually significantly damaged the bulk vessel and triggered an 18-mile. ( 29-km) oil slick. The ship was bring about 21,000 metric. tons of fertiliser, CENTCOM stated on Saturday.

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, the foreign minister in Yemen's. globally identified federal government in Aden, stated in a post on. X: The sinking of the Rubymar is an environmental catastrophe. that Yemen and the area have never ever experienced before.

It is a brand-new tragedy for our country and our people. Every. day we pay the rate for the adventures of the Houthi militia. ...

The internationally identified government, which is backed. by Saudi Arabia, has actually been at war with the Houthis because 2014.

MARINE LIFE THREATENED

The release of such large amounts of fertiliser into the Red. Sea positions a severe threat to marine life, stated Ali Al-Sawalmih,. director of the Marine Science Station at the University of. Jordan.

The overload of nutrients can stimulate excessive development of. algae, using up a lot oxygen that regular marine life can not. survive, said Al-Sawalmih, describing a process called. eutrophication.

An immediate plan needs to be adopted by countries of the Red. Sea to develop monitoring program of the contaminated locations in the. Red Sea as well as adopt a cleanup method, he said.

The overall effect depends on how ocean currents deplete the. fertiliser and how it is launched from the stricken vessel, stated. Xingchen Tony Wang, assistant professor at the Department of. Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College.

The community of the southern Red Sea features beautiful. coral reefs, coastal mangroves and diverse marine life.

In 2015, the location avoided a potential ecological. When the United Nations got rid of more than 1 million, disaster. barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker moored off the Yemen. coast. That type of operation may be more difficult in the. present situations.

The Houthi attacks have stired fears that the Israel-Hamas. war might spread out, destabilising the larger Middle East.

In a different report, the UKMTO agency stated it had actually gotten. a report of a ship being assaulted 15 nautical miles west of. Yemen's port of Mokha.

The crew took the vessel to anchor and were left by. military authorities, the UKMTO stated in an advisory note.

Italy's defence ministry likewise said that a person of its naval. ships had actually shot down a drone flying towards it in the Red Sea.

The Houthi Transport Ministry, on the other hand, stated there had. been a glitch in undersea interaction cable televisions in the Red Sea. as a result of actions by U.S. and British marine vessels. It did. not give further information.

(source: Reuters)