Galaxy Leader cargo ship seized by Yemen’s Houthis now a ‘tourist attraction’

Houthis give tours for a dollar on cargo vessel they seized in the southern Red Sea in November

Iran-backed group hail capture of Galaxy Leader as a trophy in their fight in solidarity with Palestinians

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The Galaxy Leader cargo ship at a Red Sea port in Yemen’s province of Hodeida. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:12pm, 29 Jan 2024

More than two months after Yemen’s Houthi rebels captured the Galaxy Leader cargo ship and detained its crew, the Iran-backed rebels have turned the vessel into a domestic “tourist attraction”.

For about a dollar per trip, male-only groups of visitors can board wooden boats five times a week to the hijacked car carrier, which the Houthis hail as a trophy in their fight in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Since shortly after the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza broke out on October 7, the Houthis have launched a spate of missile and drone attacks on passing commercial ships which they say are linked to Israel.

A US-led naval coalition has responded by patrolling the Red Sea, and US and British forces have struck military sites of the Houthis, now designated a “global terrorist” group by Washington, to keep open the vital shipping lane.

People on board the Galaxy Leader cargo ship. Photo: AFP

This has done little to dampen the mood on the sightseeing trips to the seized vessel, which is now decorated with Yemeni and Palestinian flags and banners displaying anti-American and anti-Israel slogans.