Yemen's Houthi militant group has indicated that it is preparing to release the car carrier Galaxy Leader that it captured along with the vessel’s crew in November 2023.
This comes after the Houthis indicated that the group would halt attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea, with the exception of Israeli-owned or -flagged vessels, following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on 19 January.
A senior official of the Houthi militant group told Japan's All-Nippon News Network that “we guarantee that the ship and its crew will be freed in the coming days”. He said the release of the crew and car carrier, which has been held for 429 days, was being facilitated with help from Palestinian negotiators.
Armed Houthi militants boarded the car carrier by helicopter and seized control of the vessel on November 19, 2023, taking both crew and vessel hostage, marking the first high-profile attack on commercial shipping after the war broke out in Gaza.
The militants justified the seizure saying that the ship's commercial operator, UK-based Ray Car Carriers, had Israeli-linked ownership interests. They moved the vessel to anchorage near Hodeidah, Yemen, where it was opened as a popular tourist attraction for locals who were allowed aboard the ship as sightseers.
The group refused to release the crew despite repeated appeals by the International Maritime Organisation, the International Chamber of Shipping, and the Philippine government, to let them go. Some of the crew, which includes Filipinos, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Mexicans and a Romanian, had already been working on the vessel for almost two years when it was captured.
Since the seizure of the Galaxy Leader, Houthi militants have attacked with missiles, drones and bomb boats, more than 100 vessels transiting the region. Two ships were sunk during the conflict, leading to the death of four seafarers.
