Greenpeace expert:

“Sinking tanker is a ticking time bomb”

The tanker has since sunk in the Red Sea

(Bild: AFP/Al-Joumhouriya TV)

A looming environmental catastrophe hovers in the middle of the Red Sea: The British freighter "Rubymar", the target of a missile attack by the Yemeni Huthi militias, could be an ecological time bomb. Greenpeace sounds the alarm and calls for urgent expert access to the wreck to avert a catastrophe.

Following a missile attack by the Yemeni Houthi militia on the British cargo ship "Rubymar" in the Red Sea, Greenpeace is calling for action. Experts urgently need to be given access to the wreck so that appropriate rescue measures can be initiated quickly.

The sinking ship could break in two at any time - allowing thousands of tons of fertilizer to flow unhindered into the sea.

Ursula Bittner, Biodiversitätsexpertin bei Greenpeace

"The tanker 'Rubymar' is a ticking ecological time bomb; engine oil is already flowing into the Red Sea," says Ursula Bittner, biodiversity expert at Greenpeace, expressing her extreme concern. But the greater danger is that the sinking ship will break in two and 21,000 tons of fertilizer will flow into the sea.

Ursula Bittner, biodiversity expert at Greenpeace

(Bild: Greenpeace/Mitja Kobal)

"This not only throws the sensitive marine ecosystem out of balance, but also poisons the food supply for turtles, sharks and dolphins," says the expert.