[Malcolm G]

It appears that the news media have redefined a British Registered ship to fall in line with claims made by the Houthis in Yemen.
Having spotted this anomaly on other occasions I thought to dig a bit deeper on the last one.
On 18th February a bulk Carrier MV Rubymar was entering the Red Sea when it was targeted by two missiles one of which breached the hull in the area of the engine room. It started to take on water and was abandoned.
The vessel sails under the Belize flag and has Belize writ large on the stern.
The owners are Golden Adventure Shipping S.A. who are based in the Marshall Islands.
The vessel is managed by GMZ Ship Management Company Pireaus but their Beirut office is being used and to complicate it they also trade as the parent company Blue Fleet Company.
It was en route from UAE to Bulgaria with a cargo of fertiliser.
The crew were from Lebanon, Egypt, India and Philippines.
The ship is Not insured in London.
The attack was initially reported by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, based in Dubai.

The British connection?
The Vessel’s owners have an address in Southampton. This address however is a residential apartment in a large block. There are two occupants listed on the electoral role, so definately not offices or commercial premises. This just seems to be a ‘drop box’ to give a presence.

It would appear that in order to qualify for monitoring and protection under the UKMTO the ship’s owners need a ‘local address’ and this is the ‘Registration’ that is picked up by the news media.
Unfortunatly, by the Law of unintended consequences, the Houthi also use this information to identify ships with a British connection.
So, a scheme which ship owners utilised to offer some protection from Somali pirates is now being used to target them with missiles.

Does anyone else have any views on this?