A British-owned vessel has sunk in the Red Sea, nearly two weeks after it was attacked by the Iran-backed Houthi group, Yemen's internationally recognized government said on Saturday.
The Belize-flagged Rubymar sank on Friday during strong winds at sea, Yemen's official Saba news agency quoted a government crisis group as saying.
The government warned of an "environmental disaster" as a result of the reported sinking.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the vessel sank at about 2:15 am on Saturday local time (2315 GMT Friday) "after being struck by an Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist anti-ship ballistic missile on Feb 18."
"The ship had been slowly taking on water since the unprovoked attack," CENTCOM continued. "The approximately 21,000 metric tons of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertilizer that the vessel was carrying presents an environmental risk in the Red Sea. As the ship sinks it also presents a subsurface impact risk to other ships transiting the busy shipping lanes of the waterway."
On February 19, the militants said they had attacked a British ship in the Gulf of Aden, claiming it was severely damaged.
Yemen's Islamist Houthi militia has vowed to attack ships in the Red Sea linked to Israel. However, many of the ships that have come under fire have no connection to the country.
The Houthis say they want to force an end to the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, which followed the unprecedented massacre by the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas in Israel on October 7 last year.
Because of the continuing Houthi attacks, major shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe and sailing around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
Several Western countries, including the United States and Britain, have launched operations to protect ships in the region in response to the Houthi attacks.
The European Union has also launched a military operation to secure merchant shipping in the Red Sea, in which Germany will participate with the frigate Hessen.
The Red Sea is one of the most important shipping routes for world trade, as it connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal in Egypt.