The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is examining information about the presence of Ukrainian citizens on board a ship seized by the Houthis.
Yemen’s Houthis seized the cargo ship Galaxy Leader carrying an international civilian crew in the Red Sea. The ship sails under the flag of the Bahamas. This was reported by The Times of Israel on Sunday, November 19.
According to preliminary data, the ship was traveling from Turkey to India. There was an international civilian crew on board, but not an Israeli.
“This is not an Israeli ship,” the IDF said.
Galaxy Leader is registered to a British company, but it is partially owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar. At the time of the seizure, the ship was leased to a Japanese company.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the event. The statement noted that the British ship, operated by a Japanese company, “was seized at the whim of Iran by Houthi rebels in Yemen.”
There were 25 crew members on board the ship from Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Philippines and Mexico, but there were no Israelis on board.
“This is another act of Iranian terrorism, representing a leap in Iranian aggression against citizens of the free world and creating international repercussions when it comes to the security of global shipping routes,” the statement said.
At the same time, Yahya Sarea, a spokesman for the Iran-linked Houthi military group, said the group was allegedly targeting all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or flying the Israeli flag.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko, said on Facebook that the involved Ukrainian embassies have now been instructed to determine the authenticity of the presence of Ukrainians on the hijacked ship.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already instructed the involved Ukrainian embassies to check this information, as well as contact the owner company to find out the exact composition of the ship’s crew and other details. Maintained We have this situation under special control,” he wrote.
Source: korrespondent
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