In February 2024, two recordings were distributed in the media and social networks, allegedly showing how a ship damaged by Yemeni militants goes under water. We have verified the accuracy of both entries.
In November 2023, leaders of the Iran-backed Houthis announcedthat their forces will attack all vessels associated with Israel passing near the Yemeni coast. A few months later, on February 20, 2024, two short videos began to be massively distributed online, allegedly showing a British ship going under water. Rubymar, which is like reported, was shot down by the Houthis in the Red Sea the day before, that is, on February 19. Some publications contain additional details: for example, that there were released two anti-ship missiles, resulting in arose fire that the crew was evacuated and what is this first a recorded case of the destruction of a Western ship by Yemeni militants.
Some publications contain a couple of frames of the supposed flooding of Rubymar. For example, this is what the authors of Telegram channels did “Dmitry Vasilets"(233,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Voenkor Kitten"(137,000), "Mislivets Egor" (89,000 And 76,000), "Angry journalist" (58,000) and "Fisherman"(52,000, post deleted), as well as the public "Military chronicle» (103,000) on VKontakte. However, on most other resources only one of the two entries is shown - this was the case in Telegram channels “Russia now"(249,000 views), "Operational reports"(183,000), "Militarist"(165,000), Zergulio (140,000), Yo'l-yo'lakay (114,000, post in Uzbek), “Ostashko! Important"(113,000), "Tucker Carlson in Russian"(87,000), "Sexton"(57,000), TarikNezalejko️️ (54,000) and "Freshness"(62,000). In addition, the newspapers talked about these videos “Arguments and facts" And "Business Online"
On the morning of February 19, the official representative of the Yemeni Armed Forces reported, that during an operation in the Gulf of Aden, the Yemeni Navy hit the British ship Rubymar. According to the speaker, the ship suffered catastrophic damage and completely stopped. “As a result of the serious damage caused to the ship, it is now at risk of sinking in the Gulf of Aden. During the operation, we ensured that the crew left the ship safely,” the spokesperson added.
On the evening of the same day, in its report, the US Central Command confirmedthat the day before the Houthis shot down a British cargo ship:
On 18 February, between 21:30 and 22:45 [local time], two anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired at the Belize-flagged, British-owned bulk carrier MV Rubymar from Yemeni territory controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis. One of the missiles hit the side, causing damage. The ship issued a distress signal, and a coalition warship, along with another merchant vessel, responded to the call to assist the crew of the Rubymar. The team was transported to a nearby port on a merchant ship.
10 minutes later in the X account of the official representative of the Yemeni Armed Forces came out a new report according to which the country's navy carried out four operations over the past 24 hours. “The first was directed against a British ship, as a result of which, thank Allah, it was completely sunk,” the report said. However, British government departments flooded not confirmed.
Moreover, on February 21 on the BBC published fresh photographs showing that the bulk carrier Rubymar did not sink under water, despite the damage. The fact that the ship was above water was also confirmed by satellite images. According to the publication, received from the vessel's operator, at that time the ship was being towed to Djibouti, but it could still sink. The operator of the Blue Fleet Group also reported that one Houthi missile hit the side of the ship near its engine room and it tilted, and a second shell hit the deck. In addition, on February 21, journalists from the Les Observateurs project of France 24 contacted with one of the Rubymar managers, and he confirmed that “the ship is stable and still afloat.” February 24 US Central Command clarifiedthat the ship was anchored but was slowly taking on water,\ and that the attack had created an 18-mile (about 29 km) long oil slick.
However, both viral recordings show how the captured ship completely goes under water. In fact, these videos are old and have nothing to do with the attack on Rubymar on February 18, and they show the sinking of various ships.
Deliberate sinking off the coast of Brazil
After performing a reverse search on the screenshot of the first video, fact checkers Les Observateurs found article dated June 2020, in which described sinking of a cargo ship Stellar Banner off the coast of Brazil. The two-minute video, a fragment of which went viral in February 2024, was published on YouTube on June 12, 2020. It shows how Stellar Banner, sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands and owned by the South Korean company Polaris Shipping, was deliberately sunk after being damaged and running aground with a cargo of ore in February 2020.
Shipwreck off the coast of Oman
As for the second incident, Verified discovered a 12-minute video with a second viral excerpt entitled “The ship is sinking before our eyes,” published on YouTube back in 2015. The description says that the footage shows flooding Turkish bulk carrier Atlantic Confidenceflying the flag of Liberia. The incident occurred in early April 2013 after a fire broke out in the ship's engine room on March 30.
Thus, both videos distributed on social networks and the media do not illustrate the sinking of the British bulk carrier Rubymar in the Red Sea. In fact, they depict old incidents: one occurred in 2020 off the coast of Brazil, and another in 2013 off the coast of Oman.
Cover photo: social networks / collage “Verified”
- "BBC Russian Service". Who are the Yemeni Houthis and why are they attacking merchant ships?
- Is the video of the Houthis attacking four US warships in the Red Sea true?
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