After sinking ship, Houthis vow to destroy more British vessels in the Red Sea
Officials says London ‘is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza’
The Iran-backed Houthis of Yemen vowed on Sunday to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf of Aden following the sinking of the UK-owned vessel Rubymar.
The US military confirmed on Saturday that the Rubymar — a cargo ship flying a Belizean flag and operated by a Lebanese firm — had sunk after being struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthis on February 18.
“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, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza.”
The Rubymar was transporting combustible fertilizers at the time of the attack, leading US officials to warn that its destruction posed an environmental risk to the Red Sea.
The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping since mid-November.
The group has said it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which began after terrorists rampaged through Israel’s south on October 7, murdering some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping and forced some importers to find alternate routes to transfer their goods. Beyond economic damage, the attacks have also served to stoke fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilize the wider Middle East.
While the group has claimed it only targets vessels owned by or connected to Israel, it has frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to the country, imperiling shipping in a key route for trade among Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Those vessels have included at least one with cargo for Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor.
In addition to striking vessels in the Red Sea, the Houthi rebels have fired rockets and launched drones toward Israel.
The US and UK began striking Houthi targets in Yemen in January, but despite this, the rebel group remains capable of launching significant attacks, such as the one that sunk the Rubymar.
There have been over 30 US strikes in Yemen over the past month and a half, and, in addition, US warships have taken out dozens of incoming missiles, rockets and drones targeting commercial and other Navy vessels.
Container shipping through the Red Sea dropped by around one-third in the first week of 2024 compared with the same period last year as Houthi attacks caused shipping companies to avoid the Suez Canal, according to the International Monetary Fund.
AFP contributed to this report.
