ballistic missile hit ruby lake On the evening of February 18, the cargo ship, which had been plying the Arabian Sea for several months, docked at the local port without incident. But now, with water entering the bottleneck of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, 20 crew members have issued an emergency call for help and are preparing to abandon ship.
Over the next two weeks, as the crew came ashore, the “ghost ship” took on a life of its own. The 17-meter-long and 27-meter-wide boat is propelled by the current and driven by the wind. ruby lake It drifted about 30 nautical miles north and eventually sank, becoming the most visible wreckage in months of missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The attacks upended global shipping.
but ruby lake Not the only victim. During the final journey, three internet cables laid on the seafloor of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait were damaged. The reduced connectivity affects millions of people, from nearby East Africa to thousands of miles away in Vietnam. It is believed the ship’s stern anchor may have snapped its cable as it drifted.this ruby lake It also led 21,000 tonnes of fertilizer into a watery grave – a potential environmental disaster.
Wired traced the doomed ship’s final movements based on satellite imagery, interviews with maritime experts and an analysis of new internet connection data that showed cables disconnected from each other within minutes. While our analysis cannot definitively indicate that the anchor caused damage to critical internet cables (this can only be determined through upcoming repair missions), multiple experts believe this is the most likely scenario.
When the security of undersea infrastructure, including internet cables and energy pipelines, becomes a priority for countries, internet cables are compromised. Politicians have become increasingly concerned about critical infrastructure since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022 and the subsequent series of potentially damaging events, including the Nord Stream pipeline explosion.There are fears as Houthi weapons continue to hit ships in the Red Sea region ruby lake Probably not the last shipwreck.
this ruby lakeOn February 18, the official clues were cold. At 8 pm local time, there were reports that a ship in the Bab el-Mandab Strait (also known as the “Gate of Tears” or “Gate of Sorrow”) was attacked. U.S. Central Command said the two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from “areas controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.” 90 minutes after the warning arrived, at around 9:30 p.m. ruby lake Broadcasts its final position using the Automatic Identification System (AIS), a GPS-like positioning system used to track ships.
The crew’s distress call was answered as water began to pour into the hull, engine room and machinery room. Libya— a nearby container ship — and a U.S.-led coalition warship. At 1:57 a.m. on February 19, the crew was reported safe. In the afternoon of the same day, 11 Syrians, 6 Egyptians, 3 Indians, and 4 Filipinos on board arrived at the port of Djibouti. “We don’t know the coordinates ruby lake,” Djibouti Port Authority release on X.
Satellite images captured ruby lakeTwo days later, on February 20, its course was illuminated by an oil slick. Although the crew broke down during the rescue operation, the ship drifted north, further down the strait toward the Red Sea.