SANAA - Yemen's Huthi rebels on Wednesday freed the crew of the merchant ship Galaxy Leader after detaining them for more than a year, citing the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas as motivation.
Weeks after the war in the Gaza Strip broke out on October 7, 2023, the Iran-backed Huthis began launching attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in what they said was support for the Palestinians.
At the start of their campaign, helicopter-borne rebels stormed the vehicle carrier Galaxy Leader and detained its 25 international crew.
On Wednesday, the Huthi supreme council "announced the freeing of the crew of the Galaxy Leader, who were arrested on November 19, 2023 during the campaign in solidarity with Gaza", the rebels' Saba news agency said.
It added that the release came "in support of the ceasefire" in the Palestinian territory, which began on Sunday.
Saba said the crew were freed with the help of the Gulf sultanate of Oman.
At a press conference held on the tarmac surrounded by the 25 crew members, a Hamas official hailed the "coordination" between his group and the Huthis that led to the crew's release, according to footage aired by the rebel-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel.
Oman's foreign ministry later confirmed that the crew -- comprising the Bulgarian captain and second-in-command, 17 Filipinos, and a handful of Ukrainian, Romanian and Mexican sailors -- had flown from Sanaa to Muscat aboard an Omani air force plane.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos confirmed the release of the Filipinos who were detained, adding that they are now under the care of Manila's Embassy in Oman.
"It is with utmost joy that, after more than a year of captivity in Yemen, I announce the safe release of all seventeen Filipino seafarers, together with the rest of the crewmembers of M/V Galaxy Leader," Marcos said in a statement.
Bulgaria's foreign ministry said Wednesday that "Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov dispatched the government plane" to bring their two citizens back home.