Yemen's Houthi rebels have released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier seized in November 2023 at the start of their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.

Houthis in Yemen have released the 25 crew members of the cargo ship Galaxy Leader, which it seized in November 2023 when an organized campaign of attacks on ships in the Red Sea began, linked to the war in Gaza.

The Houthis said over the weekend they would stop attacking transiting vessels as long as the cease-fire holds. But big-box ship operators said it would take some time before secu

The US branded the Houthi release of the Galaxy Leader crew as insufficient and demanded a permanent end to the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The State Department welcomed the release of the 25-strong crew from the 5,100-ceu car carrier (built 2002) but said that the ship remained “stolen property” of the rebel group.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have released the crew of the Galaxy Leader more than a year after they seized the Bahamas-flagged vessel off the Yemeni Red Sea coast, Houthi-owned Al Masirah TV reported on Wednesday.

Shipping companies expressed caution about using the shorter route between Asia and Europe that many ships have avoided for more than a year.

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.