Wednesday 28 November 2018

Shippers Avoid Vital Yemen Aid Port Over Security Fears

Saudi attacks have cut shipments to the port nearly in half in two weeks


Jason Ditz 


Since Saudi-led forces first started attacking the vital Yemeni aid port of Hodeidah early in the fall, there was fear over the consequences it would have if the port fell, or was damaged into disuse. 


The UN World Food Programme (WFP) says that there has been nearly a 50% decrease in the amount of shipping into Hodeidah port in just the past two weeks. The ships are avoiding the port because of the ongoing Saudi invasion, and the insecurity it causes.

Hodeidah is the source of about 70% of aid shipments into Yemen. The port can handle seven ships at once, but the WFP says that as of Monday, only a single ship was present. The WFP estimates two months of food left in Yemen, which grows almost no food of its own.

Of course, this was the point of the Saudi-led attack on the port. As the lone port for the Shi’ite Houthi movement, it is the last source of aid for half of he country, and cutting it off is meant to lead to famine and desperation within the Houthi north.

https://news.antiwar.com/2018/11/27/shippers-avoid-vital-yemen-aid-port-over-security-fears/

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