Old video from Nigeria shared as Israeli ship attacked by Yemen

What’s the claim?

A video showing a ship engulfed in flames, emitting thick smoke, and partially sinking in the middle of the sea is being widely shared on social media with claims that it shows an Israeli vessel that was attacked by Yemen.

A user on X (formerly Twitter) shared the video, with the caption, "Yemen sent an Israeli ship TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA." Archived versions of similar posts can be accessed here, here, and here. The clip has also gained traction on Facebook with similar captions. An archived version of the post can be seen here.

Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the video shows a Nigerian ship on fire near the Nigerian coast in February 2022.

What we found  

A reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video led us to the same footage published by British newspaper The Sun on February 3, 2022. The viral visuals can be seen 23 seconds into The Sun video. According to The Sun, the video depicted the explosion of the oil tanker Trinity Spirit at the Ukpokiti oil field near the Escravos terminal in Nigeria, close to the Niger River delta. The Trinity Spirit was a floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO), which is used by the offshore oil and gas industry for producing, processing, and storing oil.

Multiple news reports from February 2022 covered this incident and featured similar visuals of the event, corroborating the details of the Sun report.

Screenshot of the video published by The Sun in 2022. (Source: X/The Sun)

Nigeria's Minister of State for the Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, confirmed the incident on X (archived here) at the time.

A report by the Associated Press published over a year after the incident highlighted the Trinity Spirit explosion as one of the most devastating incidents involving an oil ship or platform in recent years. The blast resulted in the confirmed deaths of five workers, while two others were presumed dead.

Yemen-Israel conflict

On September 30, 2024, Israel conducted airstrikes on the Houthi-controlled Yemeni port city of Hodeidah in retaliation for a Houthi attack on Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on September 29, 2024. 

On October 2, 2024, Houthi rebels reportedly launched a drone boat that struck a ship in the Red Sea and fired a missile at another vessel. However, there are no credible reports confirming the identities of the ships that were targeted. The viral video circulating online predates the ongoing conflict.

The verdict

The video showing a ship on fire is actually from Nigeria, depicting the explosion of the oil tanker FPSO Trinity Spirit. This footage has been misinterpreted and falsely linked to the ongoing conflict between Yemeni Houthis and Israel.