The Mexican merchant mariner Arturo Zacarías Meza, who was kidnapped in international waters of the Red Sea on November 19, 2023, was freed by Houthi militias this Wednesday, according to his relatives. Zacarías Meza was part of the crew of the 'Galaxy Leader' ship, which was held hostage for more than a year by Houthi rebels from Yemen and was fully released in a negotiation coordinated with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the Sultanate of Oman.
The Houthi Defense Ministry announced the decision to free Zacarías Meza as a way to support the Gaza Strip and in support of the ceasefire agreement achieved by Israel and Hamas in recent days.
The Houthi assault on the freighter occurred on November 19, 2023, after weeks of missile and drone launches by Yemeni insurgents against Israel in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Much of these attacks were intercepted or did not reach their targets, prompting the Houthis to interrupt global maritime trade and prevent ships from approaching Israel.
The vessel in question, which was traveling from India to Turkey, is a vehicle carrier sailing under the Bahamian flag and is partially owned by Israeli magnate Rami Unger, according to local press. However, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that "the ship is owned by a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm" and that there were 25 crew members on board of different nationalities, including from Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Philippines, and Mexico.
Almost three months after the Houthis detained the ship, in early February 2024, Bulgarian Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov stated on private channel bTV that the ship's captain and his assistant, both Bulgarian citizens, were free and on their way to Bulgaria.
This incident, as well as the Houthi attacks on vessels sailing in the Red and Arabian Seas, affected the revenues of the Suez Canal, whose traffic volume decreased by 71.1% in the year since the assault on the ship. Before these incidents, between 10 and 15% of global maritime trade passed through the Red Sea, but since the kidnapping, many shipping companies have changed their routes to Cape of Good Hope, despite increasing navigation time and fuel consumption between Europe and Asia.
