A UK cargo ship targeted by Houthi rebels from Yemen has finally sunk after being struck by missiles nearly two weeks ago, according to Yemeni media.

Yemen TV claimed that the UK-owned cargo vessel the Rubymar had sunk following “weather factors and strong winds”. The ship was abandoned after the terror group struck it.

The attack comes as the Houthis continue a series of assaults at sea over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and as the US and its allies launch airstrikes trying to stop them.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKTMO), which oversees shipping in the Mideast, reported the attack happened about 110 kilometers (70 miles) off the coast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida.

At the time of the attack, the UKMTO added: “The crew and vessel are reported to be safe and are proceeding to the next port of call.”

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The Rubymar had been drifting northward after being attacked on February 18 in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial waterway linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government, as well as a regional military official, confirmed the ship sank. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as the information had not been cleared for publication.

Yemen’s exiled government, which has been backed by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, said the Rubymar sank late Friday as stormy weather took hold over the Red Sea. The vessel had been abandoned for 12 days after the attack, though plans had been floated to try and tow the ship to a safe port.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who had claimed the ship sank almost instantly after the attack, did not immediately acknowledge the ship’s sinking.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said this week that strikes against the Houthis will continue for as long as their “barbaric behaviour” goes on.

He said: “The Houthis could stop this barbaric behaviour any time they want. Instead, they callously choose to continue their reckless acts of aggression, causing harm not just to innocents, but to their own people in Yemen.

“Until they stop, we will continue to act, but the consensus continues to grow that the Houthis’ violations simply cannot continue, and that is why recently the European Union officially launched its Operation Aspides. Members will know that ‘Aspides’ meant ‘the shield’ in ancient Greece.

“We very much welcome the commitment of our international partners and our EU partners to join the work that has been going on, because no nation should ever be able to threaten the arteries of global commerce.”