DUBAI – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have freed the crew of the Galaxy Leader more than a year after they seized their Bahamian-flagged ship off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, Al Masirah TV reported Wednesday. , owned by the Houthis.
He said the crew was delivered to Oman “in coordination” with the three-day ceasefire in the Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“The release of the Galaxy Leader crew occurs within the framework of our solidarity with Gaza and in support of the ceasefire agreement,” the Houthi Supreme Political Council was quoted as saying.
The crew is made up of 25 citizens from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania, according to the aircraft carrier’s owner, Galaxy Maritime. The ship was chartered by the Japanese company Nippon Yusen.
The Galaxy Leader was escorted to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeidah in northern Yemen after being boarded by Houthi forces at sea on November 19, 2023, shortly after the outbreak of war. in Gaza.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Monday that the group, formally known as Ansar Allah, was ready to act if Israel violated the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“We are constantly ready to intervene immediately any time the Israeli enemy returns to escalation, genocidal crimes and the siege of the Gaza Strip,” he said.
The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in a statement that the “release of the Galaxy Leader crew is heartbreaking news that ends the arbitrary detention and separation they and their families endured for more than a year. anus”.
“This is a step in the right direction and I urge Ansar Allah to continue these positive steps on all fronts, including an end to all maritime attacks,” Grundberg said.
The Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships sailing in the Red Sea since November 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians against Israel’s devastating air and ground war against Hamas in Gaza. They sank two ships, captured another, and killed at least four sailors.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing companies to divert to longer, more expensive voyages around southern Africa for more than a year.
“Innocent seafarers must not become collateral victims of broader geopolitical tensions,” Arsenio Dominguez, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization, said in a statement.
“We call on all nations to support our seafarers and shipping so that this does not happen again,” the International Chamber of Shipping said in a statement.
