As of: February 26, 2024, 10:59 a.m
By: Erkan Pehlivan
Comments
Press
Split
Houthi militias have once again attacked ships in the Red Sea.
A ship loaded with fertilizer was hit.
An environmental catastrophe is now looming.
Sanaa – Tensions continue on the coast off Yemen.
The Houthi militias have once again fired rockets at ships in the Red Sea.
The US military's regional command announced on Monday night (February 26) that their target was presumably the US-flagged tanker “MV Torm Thor” in the Gulf of Aden.
The bullet landed in the water on Sunday night (local time) and caused no damage.
After Houthi attack in the Red Sea: Fear of environmental disaster off the coast of Yemen
On Sunday, the freighter “Rubymar” loaded with 41,000 tons of combustible fertilizer was attacked with several rockets by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden.
This could lead to an environmental catastrophe on the Red Sea.
According to the US Central Command responsible for the Middle East (Centcom), the ship is at anchor, but is gradually filling with water and has now formed an oil slick that is around 29 kilometers long.
The fertilizer load is leaking into the sea and “could worsen the environmental catastrophe,” Centcom explained on the online service X, formerly Twitter.
The operator of the Belize-flagged ship Blue Fleet told
AFP
that the Rubymar was currently in no danger of sinking, but that there was "the possibility at any time."
The ship should therefore be towed to Djibouti immediately.
The damage to the Rubymar is the most serious damage to a merchant ship since the Houthis began their attacks on freighters in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in November.
In January, the Marlin Luanda was hit by a Houthi militia missile in the Gulf of Aden.
© IMAGO
US warship intercepts missiles targeting merchant ships
The US military had previously intercepted two drones in the south of the Red Sea for self-protection on Saturday evening.
A third floor fell by itself, it was said.
According to the US military's assessment, the drones posed a direct threat to merchant ships and US Navy ships in the region.
Military operations like this should protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer, the regional command wrote in justification.
At the same time, the USA and Great Britain have again bombed positions of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The attacks late Saturday evening targeted 18 Houthi targets in eight different locations, US forces said.
Iran condemned the attacks and warned of “escalation.”
The new attacks targeted, among other things, underground weapons depots, missile depots, attack drones, air defense systems and a helicopter, the US statement said.
This was intended to weaken the militia's ability to continue its attacks on merchant ships in the region.
Because of the activities of the militia: shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the coast of Yemen
According to their own statements, the Houthis are acting in solidarity with the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and want to force an end to the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip by shelling merchant ships, which arose following the bloody Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th.
The sea route through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal is one of the most important trade routes in the world, normally carrying twelve percent of global maritime trade.
Because of the attacks by the Houthis, who are armed by Iran, large shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the shortest sea connection between Asia and Europe.
(
erpe
/
dpa
/
AFP
)