Local Editor
The UN has issued permits for commercial and relief vessels to enter the Hodeida port in western Yemen, according to a local Yemeni source on Monday.
The permits were issued by the Djibouti-based office of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the first ship is expected to dock in the port within hours, the source said on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to media.
UNMOVIC office is tasked with inspecting ships heading to Yemen to prevent the alleged entry of weapons for Houthi revolutionaries.
Hodeida port has been the entry of nearly 80 percent of Yemen’s food imports.
According to the Yemeni source, the UN office has issued permits for the ships that had left the port on Tuesday, allowing them to return back.
Yahia Sharaf Addin, Deputy Chairman of the Yemen Red Sea Ports Corporation, which operates the port, said the foundation has received UN confirmations that the port would be reopened.
“No ship has yet entered the port until this moment and we hope that the UN will be serious about reopening the port,” he told Anadolu Agency.
Impoverished Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014. The conflict escalated when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in 2015 aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and strengthening Yemen’s embattled regime.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
