A terrifying video shows the moment Yemen’s Houthis have stormed a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) in the Red Sea.
Footage filmed shows them approaching the Bahaman-flagged ‘Galaxy Leader’ ship via helicopter, with several heavily-armed fighters being dropped off on deck.
The video begins with an aerial view from a helicopter that approaches the vessel until Houthi forces jump out and proceed to move across the top deck of the ship until they reach the control area and come face-to-face with crew members.
The footage also showed masked armed men jumping on to the ship from a helicopter while the vessel was still moving, and holding crew members at gunpoint.
“If any further proof were needed that Iran’s network of terrorism and chaos is threatening the world, now comes the news that another Iranian proxy force, the Houthi militia of Yemen, has seized a merchant ship in international waters,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“Armed pirates hijacked the vessel “Galaxy Leader,” en route to India from Turkey through the Red Sea, in broad daylight. They announced their intent ahead of time and publicized footage glorifying the attack while the international community watched and did nothing.”
The ship “Galaxy Leader” was hijacked by the Houthis near Yemen in the southern Red Sea, raising fears that regional tensions heightened over the Israel-Hamas war were playing out on a new maritime front.
The targeted vessel’s group owner was listed as Ray Car Carriers, who were in turn listed as a subsidiary of Abraham Rami Ungar, a company domiciled in Israel, maritime security company Ambrey has revealed in a post yesterday.
NYK was informed by Galaxy Maritime, which is based in the U.K., that an NYK-chartered pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) named “Galaxy Leader” had been seized near Hodeida, Yemen, while sailing for India. No cargo was on the vessel, as the shipping company says.
NYK organized a crisis management center at its head office to gather information and manage this incident. “As the vessel’s charterer, we are prioritizing the safety of the 25 crew members,” it said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said 25 crew members of various nationalities, including Bulgarians, Filipinos, Mexicans and Ukrainians but no Israelis, had been on board the hijacked ship.
The Marine Traffic tracking site said the Galaxy Leader had “departed from Körfez, Turkey, and was on its way to India. Went offline on Saturday.”
Yahya Sare’e, who is the spokesperson for the Yemeni armed forces, warned via social media platform X on November 19 that “Yemen reiterates the threat against Israeli vessels in the Red Sea”.
Sare’e, added that “the Yemeni Naval Forces managed to capture an Israeli ship in the depths of the Red Sea taking it to the Yemeni coast.”
You can watch the video of the seizure of the ship in Ambrey´s post below.
