The British ship “Rubimar”, which the US Central Command announced on Sunday, sank in the Red Sea after being hit by a Houthi ballistic missile, was carrying approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium sulfate fertilizer, which constitutes an environmental danger in the Red Sea.
The Yemeni government entered a race against time, hoping to recover it and limit the effects that its cargo would have on the marine environment in the country and its surroundings, with limited capabilities.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, a Yemeni official warned of the catastrophic risks to the marine environment due to the ship’s load of fertilizers and oils, calling for accelerating the process of recovering it.
The head of the General Authority for Environmental Protection in Yemen, Faisal Al-Thalabi, explained that the sunken ship contains petroleum derivatives consisting of approximately 200 tons of diesel and approximately 80 tons of diesel. He says that these materials are very dangerous, and have very long-term bad effects on the distinctive biological diversity of the Red Sea, and also pollute the beaches. And the adjacent islands, in addition to its impact on the local community, which depends on fishing as a primary source of livelihood.
The Iranian-backed Houthis had targeted the ship with missiles on February 18 in the context of their escalating attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden against cargo ships, which led to it being damaged and gradually sinking, with rescue operations being impossible.
The Yemeni official explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the impact of environmental pollution as a result of the sinking of the ship will also extend to water wells, whether surface or very close to the pollution sites, as well as the pollution of desalination plants that depend on seawater, whether on the islands or adjacent areas that depend on seawater for Desalination and its use are an essential source for obtaining drinking water.
The environmental impact will not be limited to the fuel load, according to Al-Thalabi, but the marine environment will also be polluted with sulfur phosphate fertilizer through the interaction of these materials with seawater, which will result in the release of some ions such as the sulfur ion and the phosphorus ion, which will be in large proportions, and this increase will have an impact. – According to the Yemeni official – there is a decrease in oxygen levels, which will lead to an environmental imbalance in sea water, and will negatively affect the health of the biodiversity that characterizes the seas.
Al-Thalabi explains that sea pollution will help the growth of algae that will consume oxygen and block sunlight from living things in the sea. He confirms that these materials and their leakage into the seas or into sewage networks have bad effects on the environment and human health alike.
Al-Thaalabi adds: “At the same time, the state took urgent measures and sent a team to inspect the ship, contracted with a specialized company to work to save the ship, and met with various relief organizations, the United Nations, the International Sea Organization… and other organizations, and a distress call was launched, and they were informed.” “The situation is difficult and we need help in developing urgent solutions.”
It is noteworthy that targeting the British ship last month caused an 18-mile-long oil leak in the Red Sea.
