By Jana Choukeir

DUBAI (Reuters) – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis freed the crew of the Galaxy Leader more than a year after they seized the Bahamas-flagged ship off the coast of the Yemeni Red Sea, Al Masirah TV owned by Houthi reported on Wednesday.

It said the crew was given 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 comes within the scope of our solidarity with Gaza and in support of the ceasefire agreement,” it quoted the Houthi Supreme Political Council as saying.

The crew consists of 25 nationals from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania, according to the owner of the vehicle Galaxy Maritime. The vessel was chartered by Nippon Yusen in 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 Nov. 19, 2023, shortly after the outbreak of war in Gaza.

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

“We are always ready to intervene immediately any time the enemy of Israel returns to development, genocidal crimes and siege of the Gaza Strip,” he 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 seafarers.

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