Red Cross Team Visits Crew Of Hijacked Ship Galaxy Leader In Yemen’s Hodeidah

A team from the Red Cross visited the 25 crew members of the Galaxy Leader, which was hijacked in 2023 by Houthis and is now docked in Hodeidah, Yemen.

The visit was coordinated with local authorities which helped provide access to the ship’s crew, said Jurg Montani, ICRC’s head of Yemen Delegation.

He added that it is a part of ICRC’s activities to visit all people detained, to monitor the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees. The organisation is trying to maintain connections between the crew and their families.

Houthis hijacked the ship in the Red Sea in November 2023 and held its crew hostage. The crew members are from Romania, Mexico, Ukraine, the Philippines, and Bulgaria.

When asked about their living conditions, Montani said that the ICRC doesn’t publicly share their observations but reserves it for confidential dialogue with concerned authorities.

Nasser El-Dien Aamer, general director of Saba News Agency, who accompanied the ICRC during the visit, said that the fate of the crew depends on negotiations with Hamas as it is an Israeli vessel.

Video Credits: Evening Standard/YouTube

If talks are fruitful then the crew members will be released after agreement is reached with Hamas, saying the crew is living in fairly good conditions, getting access to healthcare and in communication with their families.

The government of the Philippines mentioned last month that many of the 17 Filipino crew members experienced major health issues and showed symptoms of malaria.

The Honorary Consul to Yemen, Mohammed Saleh al-Jamal, then called for authorities in Sanaa to release the Filipino crew members due to their declining health. However, officials said that the decision depends on external decisions without providing more details.

In July, the Israeli Army hit many military targets in Hodeidah in response to hundreds of attacks against Israel launched for months. The authorities in the Philippines confirmed that none of the Filipino crew members were affected by the Israeli strike.

The Houthis targeted vessels in the region over time, but attacks have risen since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.

Houthis now control Sanaa, Yemen’s capital and most of the north and centre of the nation since the 2014 civil war pushed the internationally recognised government into exile.

References: AP News

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