Galaxy Leader crew’s 14-month incarceration by the Houthis nears its end

It has now been 429 days that the crew of the Galaxy Leader car carrier have been held hostage by the Houthis in Yemen.

However, for the first time during this 14-month incarceration there is hope that the 25 crewmembers could be freed imminently in connection with the phase one ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on Sunday.

All-Nippon News Network (ANN) has broadcast an interview with a senior Houthi official who told the Japanese TV station, “Through Palestinian negotiators, we guarantee that the ship and its crew will be freed in the coming days.”

Armed Houthis stormed the ship via helicopter on November 19, 2023, taking the car carrier and its crew hostage and ushering in a period of time that became known as the Red Sea shipping crisis with more than 100 vessels attacked by the Houthis, ostensibly in support of Hamas. The huge re-routing of much of the global merchant fleet around Africa is costing the global economy $175bn per year, according to recent estimates from The Economist magazine.

The Houthis said on Sunday that so long as the ceasefire remains in place between Israel and Hamas, international merchant ships may now transit the Red Sea. However, Israeli-owned and Israeli-flagged tonnage will remain targets, the Houthis said, adding that continued attacks on Yemen by British and American military forces could see ships from those countries targeted too. 

Suez Canal transits overall are down 56% from 2023, with containerships down 90%, LNG carriers down 80%, LPG carriers down 67%, product tankers down 59%, dry bulk down 52% and crude tanker transits down 48%, according to data from Jefferies, an investment bank.

The main economic impact of the Red Sea routes’ potential reopening would be to return capacity to the container shipping system, equivalent to around 6% to 8% of existing vessels due to faster sailing, according to new data from S&P Global. At the same time, new container vessels adding nearly 24% of new capacity are coming, launching over the next three years.