Galaxy Leader arrives in Hodeidah, two ships divert from Red Sea | News

Galaxy Leader, the company that owns the ship, said: Houthis I took her to a port Hudaydah in the west of the country, while navigation data on Monday showed two other vessels linked to the company had changed course Red Sea Worried about a similar fate.

Isle of Man-registered Galaxy Maritime announced it had lost all communications with the vessel seized by the Houthis on Sunday.

Military personnel illegally boarded the ship via helicopter, the company statement said, adding that the ship was currently anchored in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

Video footage broadcast by the Houthis on Monday showed armed men disembarking from helicopters and taking control of the cargo ship, which is partly owned by an Israeli businessman and operated by a Japanese company.

The group said it had seized the Nasra ship For the Gaza Strip The country suffered an Israeli aggression that resulted in the deaths of more than 13,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children.

The footage showed a helicopter landing on the ship’s deck, and some of the organization’s fighter jets disembarking, conducting deployment operations on the ship and attacking its command room without any resistance from the crew.

Israeli and American reactions

The Israeli army deemed the incident “extremely dangerous on a global scale” while the Israeli prime minister described it as an “act of Iranian terror”.

israeli president says Isaac Herzog “Yesterday we witnessed a new record. For the first time we saw an official announcement of pirates seizing a ship on the high seas, which I believe poses a significant threat to international law and order.”

Israel confirmed the ship was British-owned and operated by Japan in the southern Red Sea.

The U.S. Navy said the ship “Galaxy Leader” was hijacked about 50 miles west of the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah, adding that ships “should use caution when traveling through the area.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller believes that “the Houthi armed forces’ seizure of the USS Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.”

“We demand the immediate release of the ship and its crew and will consult with our allies and UN partners on the appropriate next steps,” he added.

The chief spokesman of the Japanese government called on the Houthis to release the ship, and said Tokyo requested the assistance of the Saudi, Omani and Iranian authorities to release the ship and its crew as soon as possible.

Redirect

Fearing a similar fate, two merchant ships changed their routes to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The two ships managed by Ray Car Carriers are the Glovies Star and the Hermes Leader.

The Hermes ship was heading south of the port of Nishton in Yemen when it changed course.

Britain’s Ambrey Maritime Safety Authority said Hermes ““It continued sailing back to its original location, which showed a new destination on the ship tracking system: Hambantota, Sri Lanka.”

Ship tracking data from the system (AIS) showed that the “Gloviz Star” ship drifted in the Red Sea for several hours before continuing its voyage.

Reuters reported that the two ships were linked to the same company that the Houthis seized earlier.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said “the group will target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or flying the Israeli flag” and called on all countries in the world to withdraw ships working for Houthi armed groups. citizen. these ships and avoid transporting on or dealing with them.