Sinking of Rubymar in Red Sea poses grave environmental risks, experts warn | Yemen

The sinking of a bulk carrier off the coast of Yemen after a Houthi missile attack poses grave environmental risks as thousands of tonnes of fertiliser threaten to spill into the Red Sea, officials and experts have warned.

Leaking fuel and the chemical pollutant could harm marine life, including coral reefs, and affect coastal communities that rely on fishing for their livelihoods, they said.

The Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated Rubymar sank on Saturday with 21,000 metric tonnes of ammonium phosphate sulphate fertiliser on board, according to US Central Command (Centcom).

It had been taking on water since a Houthi missile strike on 18 February damaged its hull, marking the most significant impact on a commercial ship since the rebels started targeting vessels in November.

After already leaving a slick from leaking fuel while it was afloat, the Rubymar now poses a new set of environmental threats under water.

Abdulsalam al-Jaabi, of the Yemeni government’s environmental protection agency, warned of “double pollution” that could affect 78,000 fishers and their families – up to half a million people.

“The first pollution is oil pollution resulting from the large amount of fuel oil on board,” he said, estimating the quantity to be more than 200 tonnes.

The second risk is posed by the fertiliser, which is highly soluble and could harm “fish and living organisms such as coral reefs and seaweed” if released into the sea, al-Jaabi added.

The overall contamination could incur “significant economic costs”, especially on coastal communities that depend on fishing for survival, he said.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sana’a, in 2014, pushing the internationally recognised government south to Aden and prompting Saudi Arabia to lead a military coalition to help prop it up the following year.

A ceasefire since April 2022 has largely held.

The Rubymar is the first ship to sink since the Houthis started their Red Sea campaign which they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid the Israel-Gaza war.

Plans to tow the vessel failed after port authorities in Aden, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia refused to receive the ship, according to Roy Khoury, the chief executive of Blue Fleet Group, the ship’s Lebanese operator.

The Yemeni government’s transport minister, Abdulsalam Humaid, said Aden’s “refusal comes out of fear of an environmental disaster”.

Djibouti also refused the ship over “environmental risks”, said an official close to the country’s presidency.

Saudi authorities were not immediately available for comment.

“Without immediate action, this situation could escalate into a major environmental crisis,” warned Julien Jreissati, the Middle East and North Africa programme director at Greenpeace.

“The sinking of the vessel could further breach the hull, allowing water to contact with the thousands of tonnes of fertiliser,” he added.

This would “disrupt the balance of the marine ecosystems, triggering cascading effects throughout the food web”, Jreissati said.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said five experts from the UN environment programme were due in Yemen this week to conduct an assessment in coordination with the Yemeni environment ministry.

George Wikoff, the head of the US navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, warned that the “tonnes of chemicals carried on the sinking vessel Rubymar presents environmental risk to the Red Sea in the form of algae blooms and damaged coral”.

Speaking during a conference in Doha on Tuesday, Wikoff said the ship also posed a threat to Red Sea navigation as it “presents a subsurface impact risk” to other ships transiting the critical waterway, which normally carries around 12% of global trade.

It remains unclear who is ultimately responsible for the Rubymar, which was sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Bulgaria.

Centcom and the maritime security firm Ambrey said the vessel is registered in Britain but its Lebanese operator said the ship is registered in the Marshall Islands.