Houthis Free 25 Galaxy Reader Crews After 'Detained' For More Than A Year

UNSPLASH/Andrew Svk ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The Yemeni Houthi group released the crew of the Galaxy Leader ship more than a year after they seized a Bahamas-flagged ship off the coast of the Yemeni Red Sea.

The crew was handed over to Oman in coordination over a three-day ceasefire in the Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The release of the Galaxy Leader crew was carried out within the framework of our solidarity with Gaza and supports the ceasefire agreement, Houthi's Highest Political Council statement was quoted by Reuters on Wednesday, January 22.

Its crew consists of 25 citizens from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico, and Romania, according to the owner of the Galaxy Maritime car carrier. The ship was chartered by Nippon Yusen Japan.

The Galaxy leader was escorted to the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen after being boarded by Houthi forces at sea on November 19, 2023, immediately after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Monday his group was ready to act if Israel violated a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

"We are always ready to intervene whenever Israel's enemies return to escalation, genocide crimes, and the siege of the Gaza Strip," he said.

The Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November 2023.

The Houthis said they acted in the name of solidarity with Palestine against the air and land wars that destroyed Israel against Hamas in Gaza.

They have sunk two ships, confiscated another ship and killed four sailors.

The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing companies to travel longer and more expensive around southern Africa for more than a year.