Yemeni separatists seized a cargo ship in the Red Sea. According to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there are no Israelis on board the Galaxy Leader. The crew is international and the captain – Bulgarian, the Bulgarian news agency BTA reports, citing AFP.
Israel is accusing Iran of being behind the hijacking of the ship en route from Turkey to India. The Houthi are an Iran ally, and have been targeting Israel with missiles and drones because of the war in Gaza. Teheran has denied the accusations.
Israeli officials insisted the ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated. However, ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ship’s owners with Ray Car Carriers, founded by Abraham “Rami” Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel, AP writes. Ungar told The Associated Press he was aware of the incident but couldn’t comment as he awaited details.
The crew of the Bahamian-flagged ship are Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and Mexicans, but no Israelis. The ship was chartered by a Japanese operator, BGNES reported.
Two Bulgarian citizens have been kidnapped, we have notified their families. They are – the ship’s captain and the first mate. So far, no one has contacted us. We are working with our colleagues from partner services, Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior Zhivko Kotsev said at a briefing. He confirmed that the ship is owned by a British company, with shares owned by Abraham Ungar.
According to reports, the captain is Lyubomir Chanev, from the village of Kavrakirovo, Petrich region. The second Bulgarian is Danail Veselinov from Gorna Oryahovitsa, BNR has l
Arabist Prof. Vladuimir Chukov said, in an interview with Nova TV, that Ungar is well known in Bulgaria. “He is a sponsor of the Naval Academy in Varna. Many of the people who graduate from this academy then work on Ungar’s ships,” Prof. Chukov said.
"There have been no hijackings of ships by the Yemeni Houthi resistance so far, but they have announced that they will take action against Israeli ships. Their demands will be political," Vice Admiral Plamen Manushev, a former naval commander, told BNR. He described the hijacking as a serious and dangerous precedent.
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