US warns of environmental risk from fertilizer cargo of ship sunk by Houthi fire in Red Sea

The US echoes warnings that a ship that sunk in the Red Sea after it was hit by Houthi missile fire, poses an environmental risk due to its cargo of fertilizer.

“The approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer that the vessel was carrying presents an environmental risk in the Red Sea,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) says on X.

“As the ship sinks it also presents a subsurface impact risk to other ships transiting the busy shipping lanes of the waterway,” the US military says.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government said yesterday that the Rubymar, which was attacked by Houthi terrorists last month, had sunk in the Red Sea, and warned of an “environmental catastrophe” from the ship’s cargo of fertilizer.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of war-torn Yemen, have been attacking vessels in the vital shipping lane since November in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the terror group’s devastating October 7 attack.