site.btaUS State Department Hails Release of Galaxy Leader Crew, Including Bulgarian Captain and Assistant Captain

The US State Department Thursday put a statement in which it hailed the release of the crew of the MV Galaxy Leader, including the ship’s captain, Lyubomir Chanev, and assistant captain, Danail Veselinov.

The Galaxy Leader was seized by Houthis off the coast of Yemen in November 2023. The British-owned, Japanese-operated and Bahamas-flagged vessel had a crew of 25 from several countries. Efforts followed to have the crew members released. On January 22, the Houthi-owned Al Masirah TV reported, as quoted by Reuters, that Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis had released the crew and handed them to Oman "in coordination" with the three-day-old ceasefire in Gaza's war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. The information was later confirmed by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.

"We welcome the long-overdue release of 25 crew members of the MV Galaxy Leader hailing from Bulgaria, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania, and Ukraine.  The United States is deeply grateful to the Sultanate of Oman for its essential and timely efforts to secure the release of the crew," the State Department said in the statement. 

The Houthis have still not released the MV Galaxy Leader itself.

The State Department says further, "We must not be distracted by this insufficient action by the Houthis.  Within Yemen, the Houthis continue to round up and detain hundreds of local staff members of the UN, NGOs, and diplomatic missions under abysmal conditions, including dozens of current and former Yemeni staff of the United States government unlawfully held based on false accusations.  The Houthis have also stated that they will continue their unlawful attacks in the Red Sea against certain vessels associated with Israel.  The Houthis must permanently cease all attacks in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways without exception and immediately release all of the hundreds of detainees."