On February 19, a Houthi attack in the Bab el-Mandeb strait damaged the 32,200-dwt, 1997-built vessel, putting it in danger of sinking and prompting the crew to escape.
Houthis have stated for the vessel to be retrieved, assistance should be sent to Palestinian territory of Gaza as the fuel-leaking vessel is sinking at the stern carrying 22,000 tonnes of fertiliser that were headed for Morocco, which cannot be contained if the situation gets worse. In Hodeidah, the Houthis had also shot down an American drone.
The US military's Central Command reported that the event resulted in a 29-kilometre oil slick and serious damage to the ship. The Rubymar, registered to a UK-based owner and flying the Belizean flag, is dangerously taking on water and is dramatically lopsided. The ship is currently in the region of the Hanish Islands,
Additionally, the owner intends to tow the ship to western Saudi Arabia after the hull break is repaired, according to a statement made to Reuters by the chartering broker of the ship, Blue Fleet Group of Lebanon.
The Iran-backed group's leader, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, has explicitly stated that a salvage operation will only be permitted if humanitarian aid is delivered to Gaza. The US Central Command claims:
"US aircraft and a coalition warship shot down five Houthi one-way attack (OWA) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the Red Sea"
The US Navy and coalition warships in the vicinity, as well as commercial vessels, were immediately threatened by these UAVs, which they identified as coming from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The partly submerged Rubymar vessel