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Bulgaria sailors return home after being freed by Yemen's Houthis

January 23, 2025 at 6:57 pm

The skipper of the cargo ship Galaxy Leader, Lyubomir Chanev is seen at Sofia Airport with his family on 23 January 2025 in Sofia, Bulgaria. [Hristo Vladev – Anadolu Agency]

Two Bulgarian sailors and a Romanian crew member returned home after being held for 14 months by Yemen’s Houthis, receiving a warm welcome from their families and officials at Sofia airport on Thursday, Reuters reports.

The trio were part of the 25-member international crew of the vessel, “Galaxy Leader”, that the Houthis seized off Yemen’s Red Sea coast more than a year ago.

They were released on Wednesday and handed to Oman following the three-day-old ceasefire in Gaza’s war between Israel and Palestinian group, Hamas, Houthi-owned Al Masirah TV reported.

Captain Lyubomir Chanev and First Officer, Danail Veselinov, arrived in Sofia aboard a government airplane that was sent to pick them up from Muscat in Oman on the order of Prime Minister, Rosen Zhelyazkov, local media reported.

READ: Yemen’s Houthis free crew of ‘Galaxy Leader’ after over a year, Al Masirah TV reports