Yemen's Houthi rebels have released the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier seized in November 2023 at the start of their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement has released the crew of a cargo ship more than a year after its fighters hijacked the vessel in the Red Sea, as part of its campaign of attacks in support of Hamas in its war against Israel.

Despite recently touting a Suez route, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said it will stick to Cape of Good Hope until further notice.

Hapag-Lloyd reiterated it will return to the Red Sea "when it is sufficiently safe to do so," while Maersk said it was too early to speculate.

The Houthis said over the weekend they would stop attacking transiting vessels as long as the cease-fire holds. But big-box ship operators said it would take some time before secu

The second reason is politics. The Houthis have made it clear that any re-opening of the route is contingent on the modalities and progress of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the implementation of which began on Sunday. “There are still many ifs and buts to the situation,” the executive said.

Yemen's Houthis will limit their attacks on commercial vessels to Israel-linked ships after the Gaza ceasefire came into

Ships not linked to Israel could begin returning to the Red Sea in as little as two weeks, DP World's deputy chief executive said, adding that could see freight prices "come crashing down".