1y ago

Sinking ship hit by Houthi missile leaves 18-mile oil slick in Red Sea, US officials say

www.cnn.com

Sinking ship hit by Houthi missile leaves 18-mile oil slick in Red Sea, US officials say | CNN Politics

A cargo ship that was struck by a Houthi ballistic missile on Monday has created an 18-mile long oil slick in the Red Sea as it continues to take on water, two US officials said Friday.

The M/V Rubymar — a Belize-flagged, UK-registered, Lebanese-owned vessel — was carrying 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it was struck on Monday by one of two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi territory in Yemen.

US Central Command said the ship is currently anchored as it takes on water. “The Houthis continue to demonstrate disregard for the regional impact of their indiscriminate attacks, threatening the fishing industry, coastal communities, and imports of food supplies,” US Central Command said.

115 comments

This is especially annoying because 6 months ago there was an amazing collaboration between both sides in the Red Sea to enable an international team to remove oil from a wrecked tanker.
All the people involved thought it was a great framework for more peaceful negotiations.
But now Israel has got its genocide on the Houthis are kicking off and saving the environment is no longer anyone's priority.
- Israel is guilty for what it’s doing, but blaming Israel for these Houthi attacks is ridiculous.
  The Houthis are self serving in these attacks. As they have claimed land, support has turned against them because it turns out they suck at providing services to the people that live in areas they control. So they are falling back to the one popular policy they have: supporting Palestinians, and fighting back against “imperialists.”
  Except attacking ships in the Red Sea is doing nothing for the Palestinians. Maybe if they only targeted Israeli vessels of ships heading to/from there, but they are not. Even getting bombed has an upside as it reinforces their underdog anti-imperialist messaging.
  
  @derf82 I'm not "blaming Israel" for decisions taken by the Houthis. I don't really get why you'd take that from my comment.
  Israelis made their own decisions.
  Houthis proceeded to make their own decisions about how to respond to that too. I have no doubt that they are pursuing an agenda.
  And the ecology of the Red Sea is no longer a priority for most people in the region because everyone has to make decisions based on what's happening.
  
  they have claimed land,
  fighting back against “imperialists.”
  Hey, I think I know how they can do that basically for free!
  
  All your talking points were debunked more than a month ago in this short interview.
  "To those who claim that we do it for our popularity, let them come forth and enhance their own popularity"
- The old white man's burden concept seems to have made a comeback.
  You consider non-white people to be not responsible for their actions because you consider them to be savages that will naturally cause chaos unless under the guidance of the white man. If they are causing chaos it's somehow the white man's fault for not guiding them appropriately.
  Personally I think the Houthis are responsible for their actions. Same with Hamas. Same with all the other psychopaths in the region. If you're going to blame anyone besides these groups for their actions, then maybe consider Iran first.
  
  You consider non-white people to be not responsible for their actions because you consider them to be savages that will naturally cause chaos unless under the guidance of the white man. If they are causing chaos it’s somehow the white man’s fault for not guiding them appropriately.
  they didn't say any of this, but you did
  
  @SpaceCowboy
  old white man's burden
  I think you might have replied to the wrong comment?
  If not, I don't understand how any of this applies. I suggest you read my link about the collaborative efforts in the Red Sea last year.
  
  You're right dude. Once Americans are the real victims of the war crimes they commit in the middle east.
  And Genocide Joe is the victimest victim of them all
- Please note it is not so much Israel as Nyet N' Yahoo. This is the work of a desperate criminal trying to remain in power.
  
  And then 72 percent of Israelis say aid shouldn't be allowed in until prisoners are released.
  I'm sorry. But starving people en masse is not it. It's time to treat Israel the same way we treated Germany. Disarm, occupy, hang the war criminals, and force a government representative of everyone from the river to the sea. And yes that means an end to their ethnostate. That's the point. They've fucked around. It's time for the find out.
Hit em with the old "proportional response" CENTCOM
The Houthis have been ridiculous about their justifications for attacks, but where was this ship headed? It doesn't say in the article.
- Bulgaria
- Doesn’t matter. It's civil disobedience with missiles. The point is less to destroy an enemy, and more to cause enough fuss that the various Western powers - almost all of whom are supporting the genocide in Palestine - change their behavior under the pressure.
  
  Civil disobedience doesn't include violence. Much less military power.
  
  Civil disobedience: refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government - Merriam-Webster
  This is not civil disobedience by any definition. It is violent, and it is not refusing to follow an unjust law.
  Tell me, when did Dr. King or Ghandi shoot missiles at people?
  
  funny way to spell terrorism.
  Lemmy probably defended ISIS too.
Double disaster. The leaking petroleum is an obvious problem, but the nitrogen in the fertilizer will really fuck some things up too. Wonder if will make a giant dead zone.
- That's going to fuck up the entire ecosystem if it does cause a giant bloom. Bad for fishing, too.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A cargo ship that was struck by a Houthi ballistic missile on Monday has created an 18-mile long oil slick in the Red Sea as it continues to take on water, two US officials said Friday.
The M/V Rubymar — a Belize-flagged, UK-registered, Lebanese-owned vessel — was carrying 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it was struck on Monday by one of two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi territory in Yemen.
“The Houthis continue to demonstrate disregard for the regional impact of their indiscriminate attacks, threatening the fishing industry, coastal communities, and imports of food supplies,” US Central Command said.
One of the US officials said the threat of more Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, combined with the condition of the water, makes it incredibly difficult to safely get to the ship and attempt to tow it to a port.
The damage sustained by the Rubymar is potentially the most significant to a vessel caused by an attack launched by the Houthis, who have been targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for months.
The Houthis’ attacks have been ongoing for months, and despite several rounds of strikes by the US and UK on their capabilities, US officials told CNN it’s unclear how much weaponry the militia group still has.
The original article contains 606 words, the summary contains 205 words. Saved 66%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Boy I sure am glad that I've completely removed 99% of consumerist plastic from my life, never get take out, and heavily reduced my meat intake in order to help the environment.
BP.
- BP.
- Yo can somebody tell me what this means/why it's so heavily downvoted?
  
  Basically means nothing. I just said BP because BP has oil spills. It's irrelevant.
  https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/habitat-conservation/10-years-noaas-work-after-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-timeline
  
  @Kase omg is it downvoted, that's crazy.
  Here on kbin it's upvoted to + 7. Kbin doesn't federate downvotes so we don't see any downvotes given by lemmy users, only upvotes.
~~America~~ Britain blows up all of Palestine but suddenly they really care about the environment when others try to stop them.
- America isn't blowing up Palestine. That is a fascist talking point, to try and shoehorn the US and NATO as the villains into any and every situation.
  
  America literally sends billions of dollars in arms and bombs to Israel. Who do you fucking think they use those on?
  
  Where'd the bombs come from? Who fund's the Israeli military?
  
  Israel wouldn't have a single fricking bullet without the funding of the US and other Western powers. It is very much America that is committing genocide in Palestine, we're just letting someone else's finger pull the trigger.
- This just in, different things have differences.
- Exactly. There is plenty of blame to put on the people who - in the face of a freaking climate crisis - still decide to ship ~~shitloads~~ shiploads of fossil fuel through a warzone.
- You misspelled Israeli fuckheads using American weapons that were supplied by the dumb fuck in chief
  
  America, israel and Britain
  But in this case it's a ~~American~~ British ship which is why I'm referencing them specifically.
Belize-flagged, UK-registered, Lebanese-owned vessel
I have zero fucks to give.
- About who owns or runs the ship? If this is the case i agree, doesnt matter whos ship it is, these dickheads are just polluting the environment for the sake of it.
  
  It's just a thing. I don't care.
  
  The Houthis are trying to stop moving polluting ships through those waters. Are you blaming the ship or the ones trying to stop the ship?
  This isn't about pollution or the environment, everyone knows that.
  Trying to shoehorn environmentalism as a justification to keep bombing Yemen is a hilarious mental leap into the abyss.
  Start by asking "the coalition" to clear up the depleted uranium they leave lying around the place in the middle east.

115 comments