28-612: Galaxy Leader is a roll-on/roll-off vehicle carrier built in 2002 at Stocznia Gdynia in Gdynia , Poland . It was operated by the Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen , and owned by Galaxy Maritime Ltd., which in turn is owned by Ray Car Carriers, Ltd., which is co-owned by Israeli businessman Abraham Ungar . In November 2023, the ship was hijacked by Houthis , who seized the ship and took its 25 crew members hostage in Yemen . The vehicle carrier
56-430: A depth of 29 metres ; 96 feet (16 fathoms) deep, while the western, or Dact-el-Mayun , has a width of 20.3 kilometres (11.0 nmi) and a depth of 310 metres; 1,020 feet (170 fathoms). Near the coast of Djibouti lies a group of smaller islands known as the " Seven Brothers ". There is a surface current inwards in the eastern channel, but a strong undercurrent outwards in the western channel. The Bab-el-Mandeb acts as
84-556: A proposal for the island to be internationalized as a way to ensure the continued security of passage and navigation in the Bab-el-Mandeb, but this was refused. In 2008 a company owned by Tarek bin Laden unveiled plans to build a bridge named Bridge of the Horns across the strait, linking Yemen with Djibouti . Middle East Development LLC issued a notice to construct a bridge passing across
112-703: A spate of Houthi drone and missile attacks on merchant shipping in the Bab-el-Mandeb strait passing into the Red Sea , threatened global shipping routes. This prompted the creation, in December 2023, of Operation Prosperity Guardian , a multilateral operation of ten nations to protect shipping in the area. The effort, which is under the auspices of the Combined Task Force 153 , is led by the United States Navy , with
140-884: A strategic link between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal . Most exports of petroleum and natural gas from the Persian Gulf that transit the Suez Canal or the SUMED Pipeline pass through both the Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz . While the narrow width of the strait requires vessels to travel through the territorial sea of adjacent states, under
168-563: Is equipped with an electrically driven bow thruster . Galaxy Leader has two loading ramps. The stern ramp has a capacity of 120 tons. The second ramp with lower capacity is located midships on the starboard side. The ship has six decks, interconnected by ramps. The vehicle capacity is approximately 4,500 Car Equivalent Units . The ship, assigned yard number 8213/1, was constructed at the Stocznia Gdynia shipyard in Gdynia , Poland, in 2002. Keel laying took place on November 5, 2001, and
196-424: Is powered by a Sulzer 7-cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine of type 7RTA-62U with a power of 15,540 kW (20,840 hp ). The engine drives a propeller. Three generators, powered by two MAN diesel engines of type 7L28/32H and one MAN diesel engine of type 6L28/32H, are available for power generation. Additionally, there is an emergency generator driven by another diesel engine of type MAN D 2866. The ship
224-693: The Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa . In "Bab-el-Mandeb", "Bab" means "gate" while "Mandeb" means "lamentation" or "grief". The distance across is about 26 kilometres (14 nmi) from Ras Menheli in Yemen to Ras Siyyan in Djibouti. The island of Perim divides the strait into two channels, of which the eastern, known as the Bab Iskender (Alexander's Strait), is 5.37 kilometres (2.90 nmi) wide and has
252-506: The Gate of Grief or the Gate of Tears , is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa . It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and by extension the Indian Ocean . The strait derives its name from the dangers attending its navigation or, according to an Arab legend, from the numbers who were drowned by an earthquake that separated
280-519: The Miocene epoch created the Danakil Isthmus, a land bridge forming a broad connection between Yemen and Ethiopia. During the last 100,000 years, eustatic sea level fluctuations have led to alternate opening and closing of the straits. According to the recent single origin hypothesis , the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb were probably witness to the earliest migrations of modern humans . It is presumed that
308-555: The Red Sea and the trade routes through the Suez Canal. It was used as a coaling station to refuel steamships until 1935 when the reduced use of coal as fuel rendered the operation unprofitable. The British presence continued until 1967 when the island became part of the People's Republic of South Yemen . Before the handover, the British government had put forward before the United Nations
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#1732858769164336-616: The launch occurred on May 18, 2002. The ship was completed on June 26, 2002. It is one of two identical ships; the sister ship is the Global Leader. Both ships are managed by STAMCO Shipmanagement in Piraeus , Greece. The ship's registered owner is Galaxy Maritime Ltd., a company registered in the Isle of Man , and its flag state is the Bahamas; at the time of its seizure, the ship was chartered by
364-649: The ongoing Israel–Hamas war , and that "Nothing can be achieved by their further detention." The ship owner also said that the crew members had been allowed "modest contact" with their families and were being treated "as well as can be expected in the circumstances". At an assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United States, the Bahamas, and Japan condemned the hijacking of Galaxy Leader as well as other Houthi acts that threatened freedom of navigation . The countries called for
392-649: The Associated Press in November 2023 that hijackers appeared to have been trained by a professional military, possibly Iran's . The Iranian government supports the Houthis, and the U.S. government said in December 2023 that the Iranian operational and intelligence assistance facilitated the Houthis' attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. The Iranian government denied involvement. The hijacking of Galaxy Leader , as well as
420-645: The Bab el-Mandeb Strait could keep tankers originating in the Persian Gulf from transiting the Suez Canal or reaching the SUMED Pipeline, forcing them to divert around the southern tip of Africa, which would increase transit time and shipping costs. In 2006, an estimated 3.3 million barrels (520,000 m ) of oil passed through the strait per day, out of a world total of about 43 million barrels per day (6,800,000 m /d) moved by tankers . This rose by 2014 to 5.1 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil, condensate and refined petroleum products headed toward Europe,
448-512: The Japanese shipping company Nippon Yūsen K.K., which is also known as NYK Line. Galaxy Maritime Ltd. is owned by the Isle of Man shipping company Ray Car Carriers, of which the beneficial owners are Abraham (Rami) Ungar and Yael Ungar . On November 19, 2023, Galaxy Leader was in ballast on a journey from Körfez , Turkey to Pipavav , India, when it was hijacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea near
476-469: The Philippines; other crew members came from Bulgaria (including the captain and first mate), Ukraine, Mexico, and Romania. The maritime risk management firm Ambrey also described the hijacking as sophisticated and bearing the hallmarks of an Iranian-style operation. The Houthis videorecorded their attack and released the footage the next day, using the attack as propaganda. An American defense official told
504-532: The Red Sea that would be the longest suspended passing in the world. The project was assigned to engineering company COWI in collaboration with architect studio Dissing+Weitling , both from Denmark but the announced delay to Phase 1 in 2010 and the lack of any further updates since makes this a defunct project. The Bab-el-Mandeb is also a sub-region in the Arab League , which includes Djibouti, Yemen, and Eritrea. The most significant towns and cities along both
532-445: The United States, and Asia, then an estimated 6.2 b/d by 2018. Total petroleum flows through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait accounted for about 9% of total seaborne-traded petroleum (crude oil and refined petroleum products) in 2017. About 3.6 million b/d moved north toward Europe; another 2.6 million b/d flowed in the opposite direction mainly to Asian markets such as Singapore, China, and India. Paleo-environmental and tectonic events in
560-464: The Yemeni port city of Hodeida . The Houthis have engaged in a series of attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea , which has impacted the global container shipping and marine insurance industries. At least ten armed Houthi hijackers used a military helicopter to board the vessel. After seizing the vessel, they brought it to Hodeida. Onboard Galaxy Leader were 25 crew members, including 17 from
588-547: The deck, and Yemeni social media influencers danced on board the ship. Pro- Hamas graffiti was also scrawled on the ship. The Houthis also used the ship as a set for a propaganda music video (entitled “Axis of Jihad "), in which Houthi poet Issa al-Laith appears on deck and sings " Death to America and hostile Zion/ By God, we shall not be defeated!" The whereabouts of the hostages are not publicly known. Galaxy Maritime repeatedly called for release of its 25 crew members, saying that they "have no connection whatsoever" to
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#1732858769164616-486: The oceans were then much lower and the straits were much shallower or dry, which allowed a series of emigrations along the southern coast of Asia. According to Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church tradition, the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb were witness to the earliest migrations of Semitic Ge'ez speakers into Africa, occurring c. 1900 BC, roughly around the same time as the Hebrew patriarch Jacob . The Kingdom of Aksum
644-567: The participation of the Royal Navy , Bahrain, Canada, France , Italy, Netherlands , Norway, Seychelles, and Spain. The Houthis keep the 25 crew members hostage. The hostages consist of seventeen Filipinos, two Bulgarians, three Ukrainians, two Mexicans, and one Romanian. The Houthis turned the ship into a tourist attraction. After the ship was seized and brought to Hodeidah, Yemeni visitors were brought (via motor boat) to Galaxy Leader for tours; some took selfies as rifle-toting Yemenis patrolled
672-707: The purview of Article 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea , the legal concept of transit passage applies to Bab el-Mandeb, although Eritrea (unlike the rest of coastal countries) is not a party to the convention. Chokepoints are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes that are critical to global energy security. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is 26 kilometres (14 nautical miles) wide at its narrowest point, limiting tanker traffic to two 2-mile-wide channels for inbound and outbound shipments. Closure of
700-841: The ship and hostages to Hamas and its Al-Qassam Brigades . A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross visited Galaxy Leader ' s crew for the first time on 12 May 2024. Roll-on Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 758726108 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:39:29 GMT Bab-el-Mandeb The Bab-el-Mandeb ( Arabic : باب المندب , lit. ' Gate of Lamentation ' , Tigrinya : ባብ ኣል ማንዳብ ),
728-615: The ship was brought closer to the Hodeidah, being moved from 2 km offshore to about 500 m from the port. By March 2024, the crew had been held hostage for more than a hundred days; the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said there was no indication that the Houthis planned to release the crew. A Houthi spokesman, Nasr Al-Din Amer, claimed that the Houthis had "no claims of our own regarding this vessel" and that they had turned over
756-547: The unconditional release of the vessel's captain and crew. The U.S. Department of State said that the seizure was "a flagrant violation of international law ". On 22 January 2024, IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez gave an opening address to the 10th Session of the IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (SDC), repeating his calls for the immediate release of Galaxy Leader and its crew. Satellite imagery revealed that, in late February or early March 2024,
784-468: Was a major regional power in the Horn of Africa . It extended its rule across the strait with the conquest of the Himyarite Kingdom shortly before the rise of Islam . The British East India Company unilaterally seized the island of Perim in 1799 on behalf of its Indian empire . The government of Britain asserted its ownership in 1857 and erected a lighthouse there in 1861, using it to command
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