Yemen urges help in oil leaking from vessel attacked by Houthis

ADEN, Feb 24 (KUNA) -- The Yemeni government Saturday called on all countries, organizations and bodies tasked with preserving marine environment to hastily deal with the issue of oil and other substances leaking from a commercial vessel recently targeted by Houthi militias.
In a statement, the government said that Houthis attacked the British-registered ship "Rubymar" carrying large quantities of ammonia and oil, stressing the need of preventing the leak of these dangerous substances in water.
Initial information refers that the 172m-long Rubymar flagged in Belize was heading to Yemen's Hanish Islands in the Red Sea, thus causing a major environment disaster, it noted.
The government deplored Houthis' targeting the ship, which sustained big damage, it stated, adding the crewmembers were evacuated off Bab al-Mandab on February 18.
The government said that a crisis cell was formed to set an emergency plan in order to deal with situation, affirming the need to rapidly back its efforts due to its limited potential, according to the statement.
On Friday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said water is penetrating into the cargo vessel carrying some fertilizers that was attacked by Houthis on February 18, causing an 18-mile oil spill.
The command added that its forces conducted self-defense strikes against four Iranian-backed Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and two mobile anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) that were prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards the Red Sea. (end) nsa.hm