Crew abandons ship in Red Sea after Houthi missile strikes

Following a Houthi attack, the crew of a commercial ship in the Red Sea abandoned the ship; this is the first evacuation of its kind since the terrorist group started endangering trade in the crucial waterway late last year.

The Rubymar, flying the flag of Belize, was damaged on Sunday night local time by two anti-ship ballistic missiles, the US Central Command reported on social media on Monday. The Rubymar's crew was taken to a neighboring port when a coalition warship and another merchant ship reacted to the distress call, the statement continued.

The Houthis have increased their missile and drone attacks on Yemen's commerce marine near its coast since November. The group, backed by Iran, claims that in retaliation for the war in Gaza and western bombings that have attempted to put an end to the attacks, they are targeting ships that have connections to Israel, the US, and the UK.

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The Rubymar is a modest cargo vessel. As per the Equasis international maritime database, Southampton, England is the registered owner.

In a statement, a Houthi official claimed that an attack on an unnamed British ship led to its "complete sinking"; however, this allegation could not be verified.

Whether the Rubymar sank was not mentioned in Centcom's statement, and the owner of the ship did not reply to a previous request for information. There have been no updates regarding the incident from UK Maritime Trade Operations.

A representative of GMZ Ship Management Co. in Lebanon had earlier stated that the engine room and the front of the ship were the locations of the strikes. The official stated that there were no reports of injuries among the crew members who were being transported to Djibouti.

The Suez Canal, at the other end of the Red Sea, handles up to 30% of container traffic and around 12% of all world trade annually. The majority of the world's bulk oil and gas transporters, however, escaped the attacks.

Another ship on Monday also reported two explosions close by, showing signs of shrapnel and paintwork damage. Despite this, the ship proceeded to its next port of call. The ship was identified as a bulk commodity carrier flying the flag of Greece by maritime intelligence firm Ambrey.

Although specifics of the attack could not be immediately confirmed, the Houthis claimed in their statement to have also targeted two more vessels.

On Monday, the European Union formally began a defensive naval operation to defend commercial ships against attacks by the Houthis. Under Greece's leadership, the mission will escort a few ships and defend them against threats from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The US claimed to have carried out five self-defense strikes on the Houthis over the weekend, one of which targeted an undersea vessel. Since the attacks started, this is the first time that the subsea attack capability has been seen deployed, according to Central Command.