Captain Lyubomir Chanev and Senior Mate Danail Veselinov have been released and are expected to return to Bulgaria today. The two sailors, part of the crew of the cargo ship "Galaxy Leader," were taken hostage in the Red Sea in late November 2023.

The US branded the Houthi release of the Galaxy Leader crew as insufficient and demanded a permanent end to the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The State Department welcomed the release of the 25-strong crew from the 5,100-ceu car carrier (built 2002) but said that the ship remained “stolen property” of the rebel group.

The world’s top three container operators said they fear instability in Gaza and broader regional tensions mean continued danger.

Shipping companies expressed caution about using the shorter route between Asia and Europe that many ships have avoided for more than a year.

A Bulgarian shipping company on Monday denied that one of its ships had intentionally damaged an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.

The underwater volcano Borealis Mud Volcano is located in the Barents Sea and was first discovered by researchers at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in 2023. The discovery received a lot of attention,

The sailors were freed as part of regional talks.

French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM will continue to avoid the Red Sea even though it considers the region is more stable following the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, it said on Saturday.

MISANTLA, Mexico (AP) — Escorted by locals on bicycles and in cars that awaited his arrival outside his hometown in Mexico, Arturo Zacarías Meza returned home days after Houthi rebels in Yemen released him and his fellow crew members following more than a year in captivity.

“The Houthis had unlawfully detained the crew since violently seizing their vessel over a year ago. The Houthis have still not released the MV Galaxy Leader itself, which is stolen property. Houthi attacks have endangered the lives of seafarers, hindered the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance, and harmed economies across the region.

The ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas stretched into a fifth day on Thursday. Humanitarian aid groups are working to surge food and supplies to the war-ravaged territory as Palestinians scour through mountains of rubble looking for bodies of those killed by Israeli bombardments during the 15-month war.