Local official in Hodeidah: Medium-sized ships head to Houthi-controlled ports without inspection

A local official in Al Hudaydah Governorate (western Yemen) revealed that the ports under Houthi control in the governorate receive medium-sized ships, most of which come from Iranian ports, without inspection by the UN mechanism.

The director of the media office in Hodeidah, Ali Hamid Al-Ahdal, said, "The UN inspectors who were carrying out the inspection missions of all ships in the port of Hodeidah have been stopped."

He added in a post on the X platform, "The number of UN inspectors has been greatly reduced in the port of Djibouti, and all ships arriving at the ports of Hodeidah are not subject to inspection except for the giant ones, while medium-sized ships head directly to the Houthis without inspection."

He explained that the application of maritime navigation lines indicates that "the majority of these medium-sized ships come from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and the rest of the ports cooperating with Tehran."

1️⃣ The UN inspectors who were carrying out inspection missions for all ships in the port of Hodeidah were stopped.

2️⃣ The number of UN inspectors has been greatly reduced in the port of Djibouti, and all ships arriving at the ports of Hodeidah are not subject to inspection except for the giant ones, while medium-sized ships head directly to the Houthis without inspection.

— Ali Hamid Al-Ahdal (@AliHamidAlAhdal) November 16, 2024

Al-Ahdal referred to the recent report of the United Nations experts on Yemen, which confirmed the entry of 6 ships carrying prohibited or restricted goods into the ports of Al-Hodeidah Governorate, which are controlled by the Houthi militias, without obtaining a clearance license from the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism in Yemen.

At the end of his blog post, Al-Ahdal wondered about the seriousness of the UN Security Council resolutions against the Houthi militia, and the impact of the American and British air strikes on the Houthi capabilities. He also expressed his surprise at the government’s failure to benefit from the international positions rejecting the Houthi militia’s disruption of navigation and mobilizing those positions into a military action that would end the Houthi threat.

The terrorist Houthi militia controls the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa, and uses these ports as platforms to receive fuel and weapons coming from Iran, and also uses them as a launching pad for its maritime operations that threaten international navigation, according to the Yemeni government and reports by UN experts.