Red Sea salvage ops not possible: IMO

Salvors will not come to clean up the mess left by Houthi attacks until the situation in the Red Sea calms down, shipping’s top regulator said yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference in London at the opening of the 81st session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said salvage operations for two stricken ships near Yemen were unlikely given the continued drone and missile attacks aimed at merchant shipping in the region.

More than 65 merchant ships have been targeted by Houthi militia over the past months, with the Iranian-backed militants taking sides with Hamas in the ongoing war with Israel in the Gaza Strip. 

Among the ships targeted were the Rubymar and the True Confidence. The Rubymar (pictured) bulk carrier sank last month, leaving a wide bunker slick as well as deep concerns about the 21,000 tons of fertiliser in its cargo holds. The ship sank in shallow waters and remains a navigational problem for other ships passing by. 

The True Confidence, meanwhile, was abandoned earlier this month after being set ablaze in an attack that killed three crewmembers near Yemen’s port of Aden. Sources linked to the True Confidence had earlier told Splash that the Indian Navy was willing to help shield towage vessels to remove this ship, an operation that has not happened however over safety concerns.

“We’re limited in what we can do in an area that is not safe and secure,” Dominguez said at the IMO headquarters in London.