Two Bulgarians on the hijacked cargo ship in the Red Sea, one of them is the captain

Two Bulgarians, one of them - the captain, are on board the cargo ship hijacked by Yemeni Houthis in the Red Sea, the Ministry of Interior confirmed to BNT on November 19.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told BNT that they are verifying the information. According to Tel Aviv, the vessel has a crew of 25 memebrs - citizens of Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines and Mexico.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that a cargo ship with Bulgarians on board had been hijacked by Yemeni Houthi rebels. The ship is owned by a British company part-owned by Israeli businessman Abrahim Ungar, known as Rami. The vessel was leased to a Japanese company.

The cargo ship was hijacked in the southern Red Sea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office described the incident as an "Iranian act of terrorism" and warned there would be consequences for maritime security.

The ship is named Galaxy Leader and is owned by a British company partly owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar, known as Rami. It sailed under the Bahamian flag, operated by a Japanese company. Its transponders were last active yesterday afternoon when it was east of Port Sudan. It departed three days ago from Turkey and is bound for India. Today, a Houthi official in Yemen reported that the ship had been hijacked and was at the port of Salif in Yemen's Hodeida province.

The Houthis are backed by Iran and have already carried out a number of attacks against Israel since the start of the war with Hamas. Rockets and drones have been flying from the direction of Yemen towards Israel for weeks. Earlier today, their spokesman said that all ships - owned or operating under the Israeli flag - are being targeted.

Earlier on Sunday, the spokesman for Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi military, Yahya Sarea, wrote on social media the following warning to all countries around the world - "to withdraw their nationals working on the crews of any such ships, not to make deliveries to these ships and not to bring their vessels close to them." A week ago, the same military spokesman vowed that attacks on Israeli ships were imminent in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden on the Arabian Sea.

"Our armed forces fired numerous ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as a significant number of drones, against various targets of the Israeli enemy in the occupied territories. The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that this is the third such operation in support of our Palestinian brothers. We stress that we will continue to carry out more missile and drone attacks until the Israeli aggression stops," Sarea said on 31 October, 2023.

The Houthis are allies of Tehran - part of the so-called "axis of resistance" against Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said today that the resistance groups have activated all their capacities to increase pressure on Israel.

Just days earlier, Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, called for a ban on oil and food shipments to Israel through the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and Suez Canal. The Houthis control most of western Yemen as well as the capital Sanaa. They have been at war with pro-government forces backed by Saudi Arabia since 2015.

The news of the hijacked ship comes after Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Al Thani announced that only "small" hurdles remain before a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas is finalised. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, however, maintains that nothing has been agreed and has ruled out declaring a ceasefire in Gaza.