UPDATED Yemen's Houthis release Galaxy Leader crew, including two Bulgarians

Yemen's Houthi rebels from the Ansar Allah group have released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, which was hijacked in the Red Sea in late 2023, BNT reported. The captain and the chief mate are Bulgarian citizens.

Reuters reports that the crew was on its way to Oman. Ansar Allah Houthis said the release of the Galaxy Leader sailors was part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. The crew was released in coordination with Hamas and in cooperation with Oman, the group added.

The authorities in Sana'a, Yemen, have confirmed that the captain and chief mate of the Galaxy Leader, Lyubomir Chanev and Danail Veselinov, have been released and are on their way to Muscat, Oman, MEP Elena Yoncheva, who is waiting for them in Muscat, said on her Facebook page. Yoncheva notes that a Bulgarian delegation led by Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev will arrive there this evening. In September, Yoncheva visited Yemen and had the opportunity to meet the abducted Bulgarians and hold talks with the authorities in Sana'a.

The Foreign Ministry said that on the orders of Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov, the government plane had been sent to bring the released Bulgarians back to Bulgaria.

The ship's crew consists of 25 nationals from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania, according to the ship's owner, Galaxy Maritime. The Bahamas-flagged car carrier was taken to the port of Hodeidah in the Houthi-controlled north of Yemen after being boarded by the group at sea on Nov. 19, 2023 after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.