FACT CHECK: Video Does Not Show Ship Struck By Houthis
A video shared on Instagram claims to show the Rubymar ship struck by the Houthis.
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Verdict: False
The video does not show the Rubymar. One part of the video is from 2020 and the other is from 2013.
Fact Check:
The MV Rubymar, a British commercial vessel, was struck by a Houthi missile, abandoned by its crew and has leaked fuel, according to Reuters. Despite the damage, it has remained afloat, Roy Khoury, CEO of the Blue Fleet Group, told the outlet.
Social media users are sharing a video claiming to show the Rubymar sinking. The caption reads, “The Rubymar has been confirmed to have sunk. This is the first vessel to be sunk by the Houthis since the beginning of the Red Sea Crisis.”
The video does not show the Rubymar. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the first part of the video is actually from 2020. The video was shared on YouTube in June 2020 with the title, “Sinking of the Ship Stellar-Banner in Maranhão (Shipwreck).”
The video shows the MV Stellar Banner, a ship that was scuttled in June 2020 after it ran aground in Brazil in February 2020, according to the Marshall Islands Office of the Maritime Administrator.
Check Your Fact debunked the second part of the video in an earlier article. The second part of the video actually shows the Atlantik Confidence, which sunk off the coast of Oman in 2013. (RELATED: Houthi Rebels Claim To Hit U.S. Warship In Red Sea)
USA Today also debunked this claim.
Check Your Fact has fact-checked numerous claims related to the current fighting in the Levant. For example, Check Your Fact recently fact-checked the claim that 28,000 Palestinian civilians had died in Israel’s campaign against Gaza.
