Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Two videos claimed to be footage of British ship Rubymar sinking after being hit by a Houthi missile.
Fact
Viral videos are of old and unrelated shipping incidents.
Several social media users are circulating a couple of video clips, one having a duration of 30 seconds and the other with 24 seconds, claiming them to be footage of the sinking British cargo ship, Rubymar, after it was struck by a Houthi missile off Yemen.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Houthis Attack Cargo Vessel
The US Central Command had said that two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward a Belize-flagged, British-owned ship, the MV Rubymar, in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, but that only one missile struck the ship. Yemen’s Houthi militants, too, said they had attacked the Rubymar cargo vessel in the Gulf of Aden which was at risk of sinking, raising the stakes in their campaign to disrupt global shipping in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war. A merchant vessel and a coalition warship assisted the crew members, who abandoned ship and were safely transported to a nearby port.
Fact Check
Newschecker noticed both the viral videos, claimed to show a sinking Rubymar, seemed to show two different ships, raising our doubts. We then looked up media reports and online records of the vessel, where the file photos of the ship did not completely match with the viral footage, indicating that the clips were of unrelated incidents.
Video 1
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the viral video, which led us to this Twitter post, dated February 8, 2024, stating that the Stellar Banner vessel declared itself in trouble off Maranhao, Brazil, in February 2020 and voluntarily ran aground to avoid sinking.
We came across multiple reports, seen here, here and here, showing the dramatic scuttling of the MV Stellar Banner off the Brazilian coast in June 2020. The vessel was owned and operated by South Korea’s Polaris shipping and was chartered to Brazilian mining giant Vale to transport iron ore from Brazil to China.
Video 2
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Youtube video, dated January 25, 2024, well before the Rubymar incident, stating an American destroyer had sunk in the Red Sea.
We then came across this Azerbaijani media report, dated December 29, 2018, featuring a screengrab of the viral clip, stating that an Iranian merchant ship had sunk in the Caspian Sea. We came across a similar report from December 2018, stating that an Iranian merchant ship had sunk in the Caspian Sea.
Meanwhile, several users had also commented that the viral footage is of the bulk carrier, Atlantik Confidence vessel, that caught fire off the coast of Oman in early 2013. We could not independently verify the viral footage yet, but we can confirm that the video predates the Rubymar incident.
Also Read: Tamil Nadu DMK MLA Thrashing On-Duty Police Officer? No, 2018 Video Viral With False Narrative
Conclusion
Viral videos claimed to show a British vessel sinking after being struck by a missile fired by Houthi militants found to be old and unrelated.
Result: False
Sources
Twitter post, HowThingsWork, February 8, 2024
Marine Insight report, June 14, 2021
Media report, December 29, 2018
Youtube video, January 25, 2024
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback, or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form.
Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
