Yemen rebel group Houthis also known as Ansar Allah, have released the crew members of the Galaxy Leader 14 months after capturing the vessel off the western coast of Yemen, according to a media report on Wednesday, January 22.
According to Al Mashirah TV, which is controlled by the Houthi rebels, the crew were handed over to Oman in coordination with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, following the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that came into effect on January 19.
The Bahamas-flagged ship chartered by Japan’s Nippon Yusen was seized on November 19, 2023, from the Red Sea off the port of Hodeidah. The crew comprised 25 people hailing from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania.
The Houthis framed the ship seizure as an act of resistance in solidarity with Palestinians against Israeli bombardment in Gaza. Attacks on ships in the Red Sea had been part of the Houthis’ larger focus during the conflict.
Israeli officials identified the Galaxy Leader as British-owned and Japanese-operated, but public shipping databases tied ownership of the vessel to Ray Car Carriers, a company established by the Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar.
In the months after the ship’s capture, the vessel had turned into a fascination and even a tourist site for Yemenis. Yemenis travelled from across the country to al-Salif, a coastal village near Hodeidah where the ship was docked.
The vessel’s return comes amidst growing tensions in the region. The Houthi movement’s leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi issued earlier threats to carry out more actions against Israel if it did not agree to the Gaza cease-fire that Houthis had strongly backed.
Marking the end of more than a year of the crew being held hostage by the Iranian-backed Houthi movement, their return also reflects a certain degree of thawing of regional tensions that have intensified particularly since Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel on October 7 2023.
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