CAIRO (Dispatches) – Yemeni forces vowed on Sunday to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf of Aden following the sinking of UK-owned vessel Rubymar.
The U.S. military confirmed on Saturday that the UK-owned vessel Rubymar had sunk after being struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Yemeni forces on Feb. 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, Yemeni deputy foreign minister, said in a post on X.
“It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza.”
A ranking Yemeni official says UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his government “bear responsibility” for the sinking of the Rubymar.
The UK-owned Belize-flagged bulk carrier, the M/V Rubymar, came under the Yemeni military’s attack on February 18 with several naval missiles in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — a strategic waterway linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Yemeni authorities said the Rubymar, was had been abandoned for 12 days, sank late Friday as stormy weather took hold over the Red Sea, with the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) releasing an image of the vessel on its side and confirming that it was going under.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, said in a post on his X social media account on Saturday that Sunak and his government are responsible for the sinking of the British vessel over their support for the Israeli regime’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Houthi underlined that the British government has a “chance to salvage” the Rubymar by authorizing humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, which has been under Israel’s incessant bombardment over the past five months.
“We say to Sunak: You and your government bear responsibility for M/V Rubymar and the responsibility to support genocide and siege in Gaza,” the Yemeni official said in an Arabic-language post on X.
“You have a chance to salvage the M/V Rubymar by sending a letter of guarantee…that the relief trucks agreed upon would enter Gaza.”
The sinking of the Rubymar, which carried more than 41,000 tonnes of fertilizer and previously leaked fuel, could cause ecological damage to the Red Sea, with Yemeni officials having warned multiple times about “a major environmental disaster if it sinks.”