- Title: Yemen's main Red Sea port struggles to bring in vital supplies
- Date: 24th November 2016
- Summary: HODEIDAH, YEMEN (NOVEMBER 17, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HODEIDAH PORT DAMAGED GIANT CRANE AT PORT CONTAINER SHIP ON SEA VARIOUS OF CONTAINER SHIP AT PORT VARIOUS OF WHEAT SHIPMENT AT PORT BEING UNLOADED ONTO CARRIERS SIGN READING (English and Arabic): "YEMEN RED SEA PORTS CORPORATION" (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF YEMEN RED SEA PORTS CORPORATION, CAPTAIN MOHAMMED ABU BAKR ISHAQ, SAYING: "Until just before 2015 (before start of war) Hodeidah port experience a boom in revenues in non-oil resources exceeding 30 percent average growth." VARIOUS OF DAMAGED CRANES AND LIFTS AT HODEIDAH PORT (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF YEMEN RED SEA PORTS CORPORATION, CAPTAIN MOHAMMED ABU BAKR ISHAQ, SAYING: "In the last two years, the infrastructure was destroyed, including the cranes and lifts, and these are crucial to the movement of trade and food products that enter through the port." VARIOUS OF CONTAINERS AT PORT VARIOUS OF CRANES LIFTING CONTAINERS ONTO SHIP (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF YEMEN RED SEA PORTS CORPORATION, CAPTAIN MOHAMMED ABU BAKR ISHAQ, SAYING: "Between 2014 and 2015, the number of containers (that passed through the port) reached 300,000. (Since 2015) we have unloaded only 142,000 containers, a reduction of about 54 percent." VARIOUS OF CONTAINER SHIPS AT PORT HODEIDAH PORT WITH CRANES AND SHIPS IN BACKGROUND
- Embargoed: 9th December 2016 16:02
- Keywords: Yemen Hodeidah port
- Location: HODEIDAH, YEMEN
- City: HODEIDAH, YEMEN
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA00159T01FR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:With its dockside machinery destroyed in an air strike at the beginning of Yemen's 20-month-old war, the major Red Sea port of Hodeidah is struggling to unload food and fuel needed ever more urgently by a population riven with hunger and disease.
Controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi group, Hodeidah was the entry point for what port officials say was 70 percent of the Yemen's food imports as well as humanitarian aid. Food deliveries have been cut by more than half, they say.
"Between 2014 and 2015, the number of containers (that passed through the port) reached 300,000. (Since 2015) we have unloaded only 142,000 containers, a reduction of about 54 percent," Bakr Ishaq, Chairman of the Board of the Red Sea Ports said.
Before the war, which has killed 10,000 people and displaced three million, the port bustled with workers, sailors and shipping agents trying to ensure smooth delivery of vital supplies to the impoverished country's 26 million people.
"Until just before 2015 (before start of war) Hodeidah port experience a boom in revenues in non-oil resources exceeding 30 percent average growth," Abu Bakr Ishaq said.
Jets from the Saudi-led Arab coalition, fighting to force the Houthis out of territory they seized last year, disabled the port's four giant cranes and they are still out of action, officials say. Other dockside machinery has also been destroyed. Rubble from last year's Aug. 17 air strike still lies strewn on the dockside.
"In the last two years, the infrastructure was destroyed, including the cranes and lifts, and these are crucial to the movement of trade and food products that enter through the port," Abu Bakr Ishaq said.
After last year's attack, the Saudi-led coalition spokesman, General Ahmed al-Asseri, said that coalition jets had targeted a naval base used by the Houthis within the port.
The United Nations say both sides are holding up aid deliveries and has set up its own verification and inspection mechanisms to try to solve the problem.
The Arab coalition, which entered the war in March last year after the Houthis' advance forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile, denies holding up food delivery or targeting infrastructure facilities.
It says the Houthis routinely hold up aid deliveries and divert resources to the war effort.
U.N. emergency relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien told the U.N. Security Council last month that Yemen was close to famine, with more than 21 million Yemenis suffering from food shortages. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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