Old Video of Ship Sinking off Brazil Coast Misleadingly Resurfaces Amid Recent Red Sea Crisis
The Claim
This is not scene of hollywood's #TITANIC movie. This is the ship of UK which is directly hit by #ANSARALLAH (houthis) ballistic missile. Now, this ship will accompany TITANIC. Houthis are hitting nose of superpowers again and again bleeding them.
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Emerging story
Amid the recent Red Sea crisis, social media users widely spread a video clip purporting to show a British ship sinking after being directly targeted by Yemeni Houthis.
An X user shared the clip, along with the caption, “This is not scene of hollywood's #TITANIC movie. This is the ship of UK which is directly hit by #ANSARALLAH (houthis) ballistic missile. Now, this ship will accompany TITANIC. Houthis are hitting nose of superpowers again and again bleeding them.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the viral footage and found the claim to be misleading.
A thorough reverse image search conducted by Misbar’s team found the footage to be outdated and unrelated to the recent Red Sea crisis.
2020 Video of a Cargo Ship Sunk Off the Coast of Brazil
Contrary to the claim circulating on social media, the video is neither recent nor related to Yemen or the Red Sea. The original footage shows the Stellar Banner ship being sunk off the coast of Maranhão, Brazil.
It was first uploaded to YouTube on June 12, 2020, under the translated title, "Stellar Banner ship is sunk off the coast of Maranhão after more than 100 days of monitoring."
The same video was also shared on Facebook on June 25, 2020, showing a “large bulk carrier sinking off Brazil.”
Ore Carrier Stella Banner Sunk off the Coast of Maranhão, Brazil
Reports indicate that salvors intentionally scuttled the $110 million Stellar Banner, just four years after its construction. The vessel had run aground on February 24, 2020, approximately 100 kilometers off the coast of São Luís, Maranhão, while carrying 275,000 tons of iron ore from Vale’s Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal to China. All 20 crew members were safely evacuated.
Before the sinking, the salvage team successfully removed about 3,900 cubic meters of fuel oil and approximately 140,000 tons of iron ore from the ship’s holds. Although the Stellar Banner was refloated on June 3, it was declared a total loss, leading its owner, South Korean firm Polaris Shipping, to decide on scuttling the vessel.
These massive vessels, measuring 362 meters in length and 65 meters in width, are capable of carrying up to 400,000 dead-weight tons of iron ore.
The Ongoing Red Sea Crisis
The Red Sea crisis began on October 19, 2023, when the Yemeni Houthis launched missiles and armed drones at Israel, demanding an end to the genocide of the Gaza Strip. Since then, the Houthis have seized and launched aerial attacks against several merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea, prompting hundreds of airstrikes on missile sites and other targets by U.S. and allied forces.
Yemen’s Houthis released recent footage showing their fighters boarding a Greek-flagged tanker, placing explosives on it, and setting off blasts that threatened the Red Sea with a significant oil spill. The vessel had been abandoned after repeated attacks by the Houthis.
This marked one of the most serious Houthi attacks in weeks, part of their broader campaign to disrupt the $1 trillion worth of goods passing through the Red Sea annually amid the Israeli war on Gaza.
The tanker, Sounion, was carrying around 1 million barrels of oil when the Houthis initially attacked it on August 21, using small arms, projectiles, and a drone boat.
Read More
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