Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement has released the crew of a cargo ship more than a year after its fighters hijacked the vessel in the Red Sea, as part of its campaign of attacks in support of Hamas in its war against Israel.
The Galaxy Leader’s 25-strong crew – comprising 17 Filipinos, three Ukrainians, two Bulgarians, two Mexicans and a Romanian – has been handed to mediators from Oman, the Houthi-owned Al Masirah TV reported Wednesday.
The crew’s release comes just days after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, bringing a reprieve to Palestinians in Gaza after 15 months of war. The Houthis had long said they would only wind down their campaign in the Red Sea once Israel halted its offensive in Gaza.
The crew had been held hostage since November 2023, when armed Houthis – descending from a helicopter bearing Yemeni and Palestinian flags – stormed the ship off the coast of Yemen.
The Houthi attacks forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through the Red Sea, one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.
Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, said the crew’s release was a “profound relief.”
“Today’s breakthrough is a testament to the power of collective diplomacy and dialogue, recognizing that innocent seafarers must not become collateral victims in wider geopolitical tensions,” he said.
Hans Grundberg, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, welcomed the “heartwarming” reports that the Houthis had “put an end to the arbitrary detention” of the ship’s crew for 14 months.
The Galaxy Leader sails under the flag of the Bahamas and is usually used to transport vehicles worldwide. It was among dozens of vessels targeted by the Houthis during their Red Sea campaign.
Eduardo de Vega, a Filipino foreign affairs official overseeing millions of Filipino migrant workers, said in March last year that little could be done to influence the Houthis except the end of hostilities in Gaza.
The Houthis – one side of Yemen’s civil war that has raged for more than a decade – played an outsized role during the past year of conflicts in the Middle East. As well as targeting ships, the Houthis fired a series of missile attacks at Israel.
Although most of the attacks were intercepted by Israeli air defense, Israel’s military responded with airstrikes of its own against Houthi targets in Yemen. The United States and United Kingdom, both allies of Israel, also carried out rounds of strikes against the Houthis.