SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Wednesday that they had released the detained crew of the ship Galaxy Leader, held since November 2023, following the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Weeks after the war in the Gaza Strip broke out, the Houthis began launching attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in what they said was support of the Palestinians.
At the start of their campaign, helicopter-borne rebels stormed the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier, and detained its 25 international crew members.
On Wednesday, the Houthi supreme council “announced the freeing of the crew of the Galaxy Leader, who were arrested on November 19, 2023 during the campaign in solidarity with Gaza”, the rebels’ Saba news agency said.
Yemen’s Houthis to limit attacks to Israel-linked ships during truce
It added that the release came “in support of the ceasefire” in the Palestinian territory, which began on Sunday.
Saba said the crew were freed with the help of the Gulf state of Oman.
The Houthi-affiliated television channel Al-Masirah reported that the crew had now “left Sanaa airport on an Omani plane”.
At a press conference held on the tarmac surrounded by the 25 crew members, a Hamas official hailed the “coordination” between his group and the Houthis that led to the crew’s release.
‘Heartwarming news’
The Galaxy Leader’s captain and second-in-command are Bulgarian, while its crew included 17 Filipinos, as well as Mexican and Ukrainian nationals.
Bulgaria’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that “Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov dispatched the government plane” to bring their two citizens back home.
“The release of the Galaxy Leader crew is heartwarming news that puts an end to the arbitrary detention and separation that they and their families endured for more than a year,” said UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg, who urged the Houthis to end “all maritime attacks”.
Yemen’s Houthis say they will only target Israeli-linked vessels after Gaza ceasefire
International Maritime Organization chief Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement that it was “a moment of profound relief for all of us – not only for the crew and their families, but also to the wider maritime community”.
Dominguez, whose UN agency deals with shipping security, called the release a testament to “diplomacy and dialogue, recognizing innocent seafarers must not become collateral victims in wider geopolitical tensions”.
Among the ships targeted by the Houthis were vessels the rebels believed were linked to Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Bahamas-flagged, British-owned Galaxy Leader is operated by a Japanese firm but has links to Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar.
The rebels later opened the ship as an attraction for Yemeni tourists who were invited to visit the captured vessel, which was by then flying Yemeni and Palestinian flags off the rebel-held province of Hodeida.
Part of Iran’s “axis of resistance”, the Houthis have also repeatedly launched missile and drone attacks on Israel since the war in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
On Tuesday, they said that during the Gaza ceasefire they would limit their attacks to vessels linked to Israel.
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