That’s kinda in the eye of the beholder isn’t it? My ship has a lot of Yemeni’s, they either support or are apathetic about the Houthis. The ones that support them same it’s either them or the Saudi’s/Emirati’s and they’d rather Houthi’s.
Maybe the Houthis need something to make them more unpopular, keep their friends and advisors away.
Something that can stop them associating, damage civil organisation, destabilise their military tribal leadership and need assistance from the outside world. Something to refocus their energies.
Something deniable.
Something stealthy.
Remember when we had that COVID thing ?
(I’m not serious, it’s too evil, but it makes one think)
Looks to me ( I may be wrong of course) , that some including myself have willingly or unwillingly completely ABANDONED the topic " ship abandoned after Red Sea attack " drifting into conspiracy theory , that it is all " Tsar" fault. Some may end this drifting on sharp rocs . I vote for closure .
" History Hit" .Also available on google podcast , spotify . Thx for the tip and link.
Any news on the ship ?
Last I heard the Rubymar was floating and a tow was eing consdered.
Nothing special frm BBC here : Red Sea: New images show British ship Rubymar has not sunk - BBC News
re accidents try the one below. The guy marked in red was running the show in maritime bulletin . This website was always the first to know abt accidents world wide. He got some arrangement with fleet moon as they blind copied his material and i know it for a fact that lot of maritime news joints and NGOs were using his data and he did it for a living. Regretfully Mikhail , who was living in Thailand died or rather disapeared . His website has been shut down all content including OPEDs disapeared , his F.B. profile is still on and it looks fleet moon is fully in charge now.
Still afloat:
Photos from X.
According to gcaptain newsletter today:
““The vessel has on board 21,999 MT (metric tonnes) of fertilizer IMDG class 5.1, very dangerous,” the Authority said”. Class 5.1 / 5.2 - Dangerous goods | DSV
No wonder the crew abandoned quickly. (if that is the fact)
What? You mean you wouldn’t want to sit onboard a ship struck by a rocket, taking on water, and carrying enough Ampho to take out Manhattan?
Ammonium nitrate, chlorates, nitrates, nitrites, peroxides, calcium hypochlorite, calcium nitrate, calcium peroxide, hydrogen peroxide.
The first in bold letters showed it’s power in Beirut explosion few years back, the second caused the burn out of some container vessels in the past. Wise decision to abandon a ticking bomb .
There have been a lot of conflicting reports (facts??) about a lot of things around this incident, incl. the cargo she carried (if any)
If the cargo actually was fertilizer IMDG Class 5.1 (as reported in gcaptian newsletter) to abandon ship was a “wise dicission”.
Ammonium Nirtate fertilizer carried in bulk or bags are classified as “Dangerouse cargo”.
PS> In 1971 we carried Ammonium Nirtate prepared as secondary charges for seismic survey from Makassar to Sorong, Indonesia,
Then it was classified as “Explosives”, which required creating a “magazine” in the cargo hold from bags of rice. (The primary charges and detonators were carried in separate boxes and far apart)
Guess the Admiral forgot about April-December 1972. Since I was there, it was a pretty big deal. Lots of Bird-Farms, Destroyers, and Cruisers blowing-up , and taking “incoming”. Talk to the crew of USS HIGBEE after a MIG planted a bomb on the after gun-mount. [Yeah, I have a real dim view of the admiral.]
Pounding the Do Son Peninsula | Naval History Magazine - August 2007 Volume 21, Number 4.pdf (697.1 KB)
The Last Gunfights | Naval History Magazine - October 2012 Volume 26, Number 5.pdf (778.4 KB)
Operation Linebacker: The Sea-Power Factor | Naval History Magazine - August 2022, Volume 36, Number.pdf (1.6 MB)
Many thx for this fantastic material
It is never too late to learn sth and we learn as we go. Great stuff/!!!
THX
P.S. and allow me to reciprocate with some items fm my collection :
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZLbLojcZ2OZ4cJ1qpDoPGVsuYbjkkVy8?usp=sharing
Enjoy.
Now a vessel with a cargo like that could completely renovate a port or shore facility.
A Houthi port or facility.
Now with a little assisted drifting
The cargo is described as ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer and oxidizer, not ANFO which is ammonium nitrate mixed with (usually) diesel fuel. When mixed with the diesel at around 5 or 6 percent it becomes an industrial explosive as described by Bug.
While there are more than a few cases of bulk NH4NO3 detonating due to fire, it is not classed as an explosive and should not automatically be conflated as such just for dramatic effect.
Was mainly just a quip about 20k tons of possibly wet “fertilizer”, but you are correct.
Pages 90-101 fm IMSBC code for viewers kind perusal.
IMSBC CODE 2020-90-101.pdf (1.3 MB)
From an article in gcaptain newsletter today:
PS> Type of fertilizer is not stated and the “41000 tons” is presumably short tons. (??)
(41000 Short Ton (US) = approx. 37000 M.tonnes)
Not all fertilizers are IMDG Classified so until actual type of fertilizer cargo is known from a reliable source, I stick to my earlier statement:
The Rubymar is reported to be 32200 DWT so 37K MT of cargo is obviously wrong.
Earlier reports that the cargo was 22K of fertilizer is more realistic when looking at the pictures released by BBC:
If she had been fully loaded it is doubtful she would have stayed afloat with the engine room flooded, in my opinion.
who cares. Do not be a pin in the ass. No wonder they barely tolerate You .Your attention to detail may be perceived by some local tribesman as suffocating.
Look at me - they all love me here as I always agree even if I desagree and say I am sorry
She is obviously a very fast ship. According to Vesselfinder.com she left Djibouti 25.02 and is now at a yacht marina in Panama:
TORM THOR, Chemical/Oil Products Tanker - Details and current position - IMO 9712292 - VesselFinder
And a bit of a mystery vessel.
Marinetraffic.com has her in South Korea and looking like a Catamaran:
Ship TORM THOR (Oil/Chemical Tanker) Registered in USA - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 9712292, MMSI 368118000, Call sign KTTL
Houthis Keeping Up Pressure with Near Miss on US-Flagged Tanker Security Program Ship (gcaptain.com)
RE: ABANDONED RUBYMAR VESSEL
quote
“She is still afloat with engine room and no. 5 hold under water,”
end quote.
If no 4 watertight bulkhead is breached she is a GONNER i suppose.