Post falsely claims to show sinking of British vessel Rubymar by Houthis | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: Video shows British ship sinking after being struck by Houthi militants

A Feb. 20 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows footage of a large ship sinking into the sea from seemingly two different angles.

"The Rubymar has been confirmed to have sunk," the video's on-screen caption reads. "This is the first vessel to be sunk by the Houthis since the beginning of the Red Sea Crisis."

The caption includes U.K. and Yemen flag emojis.

The post was liked more than 250 times in two days. A similar Spanish-language version of the claim was liked nearly 11,000 times in three days.

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Our rating: False

The British merchant vessel Rubymar sustained damage in a missile attack launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, but the video does not show the aftermath of the attack. It shows two different ships, one that sank in 2013 and another that sank in 2020. The Rubymar was still afloat despite taking on water as of Feb. 26.

Video shows unrelated ships sinking in 2013, 2020

The MV Rubymar, a U.K.-owned bulk carrier, was struck by a missile launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen on Feb. 18, according to a Feb. 19 U.S. Central Command press release summarizing Red Sea activities. A coalition warship and a merchant vessel responded to a distress call issued by the Rubymar, and the merchant vessel took the Rubymar's crew to a nearby port.

In a Feb. 23 update, U.S. Central Command said the Rubymar was anchored and slowly taking on water but had not sunk. Roy Khoury, CEO of Lebanon-based Blue Fleet Group, told Reuters on Feb. 26 the ship was still afloat.

The video in the Instagram post does not show the aftermath of the attack on the Rubymar. Instead, it starts by showing a ship that sank in 2020, then cuts to a ship that sank in 2013, according to videos and news reports.

Fact check: Video of cargo ship fire wrongly linked to attack on US vessel off Yemen

The first clip shows the deliberate sinking of the MV Stellar Banner, a Marshall Islands-registered very large ore carrier, in June 2020. The ship ran aground off the coast of Brazil in February 2020, resulting in hull damage and flooding, according to an investigation by the Marshall Islands Maritime Administrator.

Footage of the ship's scuttling, or deliberate sinking, was shared on YouTube in 2020 and matches the first clip in the Instagram post.

The second clip in the post shows the sinking of the MV Atlantik Confidence, a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier, after it sustained damage in a reported engine room fire off Oman on March 30, 2013, according to a NATO report. The ship sank on April 3, 2013, Gulf News reported.

Footage of the ship sinking shared on YouTube in 2015 matches the second video in the Instagram post.

The Instagram user who shared the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

AFP also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Footage predates attack on UK-owned MV Rubymar off Yemen | Fact check