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In act of piracy, Saudi Arabia seizes another fuel ship bound for Yemen’s Hudaydah

Tuesday, 22 March 2022 9:59 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 22 March 2022 10:11 AM ]

A general view of the Hudaydah port in Yemen, west of the capital Sana’a. (File photo by AFP)

The Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) says the Saudi-led war coalition has confiscated yet another emergency fuel ship bound for the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, a lifeline for millions of Yemenis which has been tightly controlled by Saudi Arabia.

The company announced that the vessel was impounded despite being inspected and holding entry permits from the United Nations.

“To further tighten the noose around the Yemeni people, the Saudi-led aggression [coalition] detained the second emergency ship ‘Sea Door,’ despite being searched and have obtained entry permits from the UN,” YPC spokesman Issam al-Mutawakel said, Yemen’s al-Masirah news network reported on Tuesday.

He added that the seizure clearly ignored the Yemeni people’s suffering from the lack of fuel in the impoverished war-wracked country.

The number of confiscated vessels en route to Hudaydah rose to three, including two fuel tankers, Mutawakel said.

Saudi Arabia continues to seize further Yemeni fuel ships

Yemen

Over the past one and a half years, the Saudi-led coalition has held dozens of ships, blocking Yemen’s much-needed fuel imports amid a crippling siege.

The act of maritime piracy has deteriorated the humanitarian situation in Yemen, while much of the country’s vital sectors, including hospitals as well as electricity and water services, have already come to a halt.

More than 23 million Yemenis face hunger, disease, and other life-threatening risks as the country’s basic services and economy are collapsing, according to the UN Office for Humanitarian Coordination (OCHA).

Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war against Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and several Western states.

The objective was to return to power the former Riyadh-backed regime and crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.

The war has stopped well shy of all of its goals, despite killing tens of thousands of Yemenis and turning entire Yemen into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Yemeni forces have continued to grow stronger in the face of the Saudi-led invaders, advancing toward strategic areas held by Saudi-led mercenaries, including Ma’rib province, and conducting several rounds of counterstrikes against Saudi Arabia and the UAE in recent months.

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