A UK cargo ship targeted by Houthi rebels from Yemen has finally sunk after being struck by missiles nearly two weeks ago, according to Yemeni media.
The Houthi-run Yemen TV claimed that the UK-owned cargo vessel the Rubymar had sunk following “weather factors and strong winds”. The ship was abandoned after it was struck by the terror group.
The attack comes as the Houthis continue a series of assaults at sea over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and as the U.S. and its allies launch airstrikes trying to stop them.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center (UKTMO), which oversees shipping in the Mideast, reported the attack happened about 110 kilometers (70 miles) off the coast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida. The rocket exploded several miles off the bow of the vessel, it said.
The UKMTO added: “The crew and vessel are reported to be safe and are proceeding to next port of call.”
READ MORE: Shapps admits UK discussing shock move in tackling Red Sea crisis
The private security firm Ambrey reported that the vessel targeted appeared to be a Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier in the area at the time. Another ship, a Panama-flagged, Emirati-owned chemical tanker was nearby as well, Ambrey said.
The Associated Press could not immediately identify the vessels involved.
The Houthis typically take several hours to claim their assaults and have not yet done so for the assault late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the US military’s Central Command said an American and an allied warship shot down five Houthi bomb-carrying drones in the Red Sea on Tuesday night.
The drones originated “from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and (it was) determined they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the U.S. Navy and coalition ships in the region,” Central Command said in a statement.
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Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said this week that strikes against the Houthis will continue for as long as their “barbaric behaviour” goes on.
He said: “The Houthis could stop this barbaric behaviour any time they want. Instead, they callously choose to continue their reckless acts of aggression, causing harm not just to innocents, but to their own people in Yemen.
“Until they stop, we will continue to act, but the consensus continues to grow that the Houthis’ violations simply cannot continue, and that is why recently the European Union officially launched its Operation Aspides. Members will know that ‘Aspides’ meant ‘the shield’ in ancient Greece.
“We very much welcome the commitment of our international partners and our EU partners to join the work that has been going on, because no nation should ever be able to threaten the arteries of global commerce.”