Galaxy Leader operator Japanese Nippon Yusen suspends Red Sea shipping
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The US and UK aggression on Yemen spikes global fears over a cycle of escalations in the Red Sea.
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The Galaxy Leader owned by Israeli billionaire Abraham Ungar and operated by Japanese shipping firm Nippon Yusen seen at the port of Koper, Slovenia on September 16, 2008 (AP)
Japanese shipping firm Nippon Yusen - NYK Line - announced it is rerouting all its vessels away from the Red Sea, citing the escalating security escalations in the area.
"We have suspended navigation through the Red Sea by all ships we operate," a spokesperson for the firm told AFP, adding the decision was to "ensure the safety of crews."
Read more: Saudi FM: Red Sea tensions connected to Gaza
Over the past week, the US and UK carried out a series of aggressions against Yemen, including strikes on the capital Sanaa and the coastal governorate of Hodeidah. This raised global fears of a cycle of new escalations, especially after Yemen declared an "inevitable" response is coming.
The attacks on Yemen come due to its enforced ban on Israeli and "Israel"-bound ships from passing through the Red and Arabian seas in response to the occupation's ongoing genocide in Gaza. In their most recent operation, the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted and hit the Zogravia in the Red Sea on Tuesday.
Nippon Yusen is the operator of the Galaxy Leader, the ship owned by Israeli billionaire Abraham Ungar that was captured by the Yemeni Armed Forces last November.
On Tuesday, two other major Japanese shipping firms - Kawasaki Kisen and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines - also suspended sailing through the Red Sea
US propaganda
This comes as Sanaa repeatedly reassured shipping companies that only ships belonging to Israelis, Israeli-affiliated or heading to the occupation entity are subject to the ban, but all other vessels are safe and free to navigate toward the Suez Canal.
The head of the Sanaa negotiating delegation Mohammed Abdulsalam stated on Tuesday that the suspension of operations by certain shippers was the result of pressures and exaggerations exerted by US propaganda.
In a post on social media platform X, he also highlighted the daily passage of hundreds of ships through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, reminding that "there is no prohibition for any ship except those associated with the criminal Zionist enemy or those heading to its ports in occupied Palestine."
