Houthi rebels claimed to have captured an Israeli ship on Sunday. However, the vessek is actually registered in the Isle of Man.

It looked like something out of an action movie when military-clad men captured the cargo ship Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on Sunday using a helicopter.

Images from the scene show a helicopter hovering over the ship as masked men run around with guns on deck.

On Monday, the ship’s owner, Galaxy Maritime Solutions Ltd., confirmed that military-clad individuals boarded the cargo ship using a helicopter, according to the news agency Reuters.

”We subsequently lost contact with the ship,” reads a statement from the shipping company.

The ship was in the port of the Yemeni city of Hodeida on Monday evening.

There are 25 crew members on board. They are being held by the people who have hijacked the ship, according to the shipping company.

Houthi rebels from Yemen claimed on Sunday that they had hijacked an Israeli ship in the Red Sea, but Israel’s military subsequently denied that the vessel had any connection to Israel.

The Galaxy Leader is owned by the British shipping company Galaxy Maritime Solutions Ltd. The ship itself is registered in the Isle of Man.

”The company will not comment further on the political or geopolitical situation due to shipping considerations,” reads the statement from the shipping company, according to Reuters.

A few days before the ship was hijacked, Houthi rebels threatened to target Israeli ships in the Red Sea because of Israel’s attack on Gaza.

The Houthi rebels are supported by Iran.

The crew of the Galaxy Leader consists of Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Filipinos, Mexicans and Romanians.

The ship itself is chartered by the Japanese company Nippon Yusen.

Galaxy Maritime writes in the statement that the hijacking poses a serious threat to international trade.

However, the main focus for the shipping company is to ensure that nothing happens to the crew.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Kristoffer Grønbæk)