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Yemeni Government News

18 Mar 2024

Houthi Attacks Must Ease for Salvage of Two Vessels, IMO Head Says

On March 2 at approximately 2:15 a.m. (Sanaa time), Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier, sank in the Red Sea after being struck by an Iranian-backed Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on Feb. 18. The ship had been slowly taking on water since the attack. (Photo: U.S. Central Command)

Efforts to limit environmental damage from a cargo vessel that sank after a Houthi missile strike and another abandoned during a fiery assault are on hold until attacks on ships ease, the United Nations' maritime shipping regulatory agency said on Monday.The UK-owned Rubymar last month became the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea area in November. The bulk carrier with 21,000 metric tons of fertiliser contained in its cargo hold…

02 Mar 2024

Bulk Carrier Rubymar Sinks After Being Struck by Houthis it the Red Sea

On March 2 at approximately 2:15 a.m. (Sanaa time), Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier, sank in the Red Sea after being struck by an Iranian-backed Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on Feb. 18. The ship had been slowly taking on water since the attack. (Photo: U.S. Central Command)

The UK-owned Rubymar, attacked by Houthi militants last month, has sunk in the Red Sea, Yemen's internationally recognized government said on Saturday, warning of an "environmental catastrophe" from the ship's cargo of fertilizer.The vessel is the first lost since the Houthis began targeting commercial shipping in November, forcing shipping firms to divert vessels on to the longer, more expensive route around southern Africa.The Iranian-backed Houthis, who control the north of Yemen and other large centers…

26 Feb 2024

Houthis Keep Up Pressure with Near Miss on US-flagged Tanker

FILE PHOTO: Torm Thor (Photo: Torm)

Yemen's Houthis fired a missile that likely targeted the Torm Thor in the Gulf of Aden on Feb. 24 but missed the U.S.-flagged oil tanker, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Monday, as the Iran-aligned militia steps up attacks on ships.Shipping risks have escalated due to repeated Houthi drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since November in support of Palestinians in Gaza. U.S. and British forces have responded with several strikes on Houthi…

26 Jan 2024

China Presses Iran to Rein in Houthi Attacks in Red Sea

© icholakov / Adobe Stock

Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said.The discussions about the attacks and trade between China and Iran took place at several recent meetings in Beijing and Tehran, the Iranian sources said, declining to provide details about when they took place or who attended."Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran.

26 Feb 2023

Containership is First in Years to Docks at Yemen's Hodeidah Port

A containership carrying general commercial goods docked at Yemen's main port of Hodeidah for the first time since at least 2016 on Saturday as parties in Yemen's eight-year war are in talks to reinstate an expired U.N.-brokered truce deal.The conflict, which pits a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia against the Iran-aligned Houthi group, has divided Yemen and caused a humanitarian crisis that has left 80% of the 30 million population needing help.Goods arriving at Hodeidah have to be vetted by a U.N. body established to prevent arms shipments from entering Yemen.

30 Oct 2020

Iran Brands US 'Pirates' Over Seized Venezuela-bound Oil

Iran accused the United States on Friday of acting like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" after Washington said it had sold off Iranian crude oil shipments that it seized on their way to Venezuela.Washington said on Thursday it had sold 1.1 million barrels of previously seized Iranian oil that was bound for Venezuela, in the Trump administration's latest move to increase pressure on Tehran less than a week before the November 3 U.S. presidential election."The Pirates of the Caribbean openly boasting abt(about) their booty... No one civilized brags abt stealing," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter.Iranian officials have said the seized crude oil shipments belonged to shippers and not Iran. But according to an unsealed U.S.

25 Feb 2020

Saudi-led Coalition Thwarts Red Sea Attack

© momentscatcher  / Adobe Stock

Naval forces from the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen on Sunday foiled an "imminent terrorist" attack by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the southern Red Sea, a major commercial shipping channel, the coalition said.The forces destroyed an unmanned boat laden with explosives that was launched from Hodeidah province in western Yemen, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said in a statement on Saudi state news agency SPA, without identifying the targets.There was no immediate confirmation from the Houthi movement…

24 May 2018

Tropical Storm Hits Yemen's Socotra

Yemen declared a state of emergency on the island of Socotra on Thursday as a tropical storm intensified after flooding several villages and capsizing boats to leave at least 17 people missing, government officials said. Socotra, which lies between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, has been largely untouched by Yemen's three-year-old war. It is under the control of the internationally recognized government whose president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, is in exile in Saudi Arabia. The island "requires urgent aid to help people stranded in their villages or those who reside in the mountains," government spokesman Rajeh Badi told state news agency SABA. He said 17 people were missing after two boats capsized and three cars were washed away by floods.

27 Jul 2017

Saudis Stop Tankers From Entering Yemen, UN Says

A Saudi-led military coalition and the government of Yemen denied four oil tankers access to a Yemeni port last week, a move that could hurt the flow of aid and exacerbate a cholera outbreak in the country, a United Nations agency said. The vessels were on their way to Hodeidah, a Red Sea port controlled by the rebel Houthi movement that is aligned with Iran. Saudi Arabia, a regional rival of Iran, is leading a military coalition fighting the Houthis. More than 1,900 people have died from cholera in Yemen and 400,000 cases have been reported since the start of the outbreak in April. The disease spreads in polluted water, and fuel is needed to run pumps for clean water and power generators in hospitals, among other uses. Yemen is also facing a looming famine.

04 Apr 2017

Yemen Forces Prepare to Move on Main Port

Yemeni government forces and their Arab allies are massing north and south of the Houthi-held Red Sea port of Hodeidah despite United Nations and aid groups warnings that a military operation there would put millions of civilians at risk. Hodeidah port and province is controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthis and has been the entry point for 70 percent of Yemen's food supplies as well as humanitarian aid. The country has been torn by more than two years of civil war that pits the armed Houthi group against the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led Arab alliance. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict and hunger is widespread.

05 May 2016

Arabian Shipping at Risk of Al Qaeda Attack

Al Qaeda's Yemen branch remains a powerful force and poses a growing risk to merchant ships in vital waterways nearby despite efforts by Yemeni government forces and their allies to push back the group, Reuters reports quoting a top officer in an international naval force. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed on Saturday it had withdrawn from the southern Yemeni port of‎ Mukalla - a week after Yemeni government and Emirati soldiers seized the‎ city that was used by the Islamist militants to amass a fortune. Captain William Nault, Chief of Staff with the multi-national Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), told Reuters ‎the gains by government forces were "heartening" and a "setback" for AQAP, but added the group still had capabilities due to the ongoing civil war.

03 May 2016

UN to Start Inspecting Commercial Shipments to Yemen

The United Nations will start inspecting shipments to rebel-held ports in Yemen in a bid to boost commercial imports and enforce an arms embargo, the world body said on Tuesday, some eight months after announcing it would establish such a procedure. Yemen relies almost solely on imports, but a 14-month long conflict between Houthi rebels and a Saudi Arabian-led coalition has slowed to a trickle commercial shipments to the impoverished country where 80 percent of people need humanitarian aid. The United Nations announced in September it would set up a verification and inspection mechanism. Then in October U.N. aid chief Stephen O'Brien said the United Nations was still trying to raise some $8 million to fund the Djibouti-based operation. It began operations on Monday, U.N.

14 Oct 2015

US Navy: Arab Coalition Slowing Aid Efforts in Yemen

Aid to Yemen is being slowed by a Saudi-led coalition which has warned commercial vessels to stay away from areas hit by fighting, a U.S. Navy report said. The Arab coalition, fighting to end control of much of Yemen by the Iran-allied Houthi movement, denied the allegation and said it was keen for ships to take in relief. Yemen is suffering what the United Nations says is one of its worst humanitarian crises. Aid efforts have been hampered by fighting and air and sea ports being blocked for long periods. A report published on Tuesday by the U.S. Navy and seen by Reuters said coalition warships off the Red Sea port of Hodeida were "broadcasting a warning to commercial vessels to stay clear of operational areas.

13 May 2015

Yemen Says Iran to Blame for Any Incident Sparked by Cargo Ship

Iran said earlier on Wednesday it would not allow Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces to inspect the ship, which it says contains humanitarian aid. The ship left Iran on Monday and is being escorted by Iranian warships. "The Yemeni government and the coalition forces do not object to aid shipments entering Yemen as long as they obtain the necessary permits from the legitimate government of Yemen and are searched prior to entry," Yemen's U.N. mission told the U.N. Security Council in a letter, seen by Reuters.

02 Feb 2015

Yemen Balhaf Terminal Stopped Operations

Following Yemen's lifted force majeure on liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries from its Balhaf plant, the facility stopped operations on Sunday, and evacuated foreign experts from the facility, Reuters informed. Yemeni government announced force majeure on the Balhaf terminal, operated by France's Total, following the collapse of the government and the deteriorating security in the country. By doing so, they essentially allowed buyers or sellers to go back on previously made commitments due to events beyond their control. The last vessel to leave the LNG facility was the GDF Suez Point Fortin, and the Marib Spirit, which was on its way to Balhaf, was diverted to Middle East. The Balhaf gas export terminal ships LNG primarily to Asia and to some European countries.

19 Aug 2009

Panama Canal Authority Notice to Commence

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) reached a critical milestone for the Canal Expansion Program moving ahead on time and on budget. Culminating months of arduous work, the ACP received Grupo Unidos por el Canal’s (GUPC) performance and payment bonds and signed the contract. Today, ACP Executive Manager and Locks Project Management Division and Contracting Officer Jorge de la Guardia issued the Notice to Commence work slated for August 25, 2009. The scope of work included in the…

27 Apr 2001

Three News Suspects Arrested In Cole Case

Police in Yemen have arrested three new suspects in the bombing of the American warship USS Cole in which 17 U.S. sailors were killed last year, a Yemeni government weekly said. The paper said the three had recently been detained in the capital and sent for interrogation to the southern port city of Aden, site of the apparent suicide bombing which crippled the U.S. destroyer in October. Yemen has already arrested a dozen suspects over the attack, some of whom are reportedly Muslim militants. But officials have said the main suspect appears to have fled to Afghanistan. The government weekly, called 26 September and published by Yemen's armed forces, said U.S.

19 Nov 1999

Australian Family Uninjured In Pirate Attack

Pirates sprayed bullets into an Australian family yacht near the coast of Yemen and the holidaymakers were eventually rescued by a Saudi Arabian oil tanker, one of the victims said. Moya Tucker, resting with her husband and two children at a Yemeni army resort in Aden, said her family was shaken but none was hurt in the incident, which occurred on Nov. 12. Yemeni authorities launched an investigation into the incident and vowed to bring those responsible to justice. Tucker, who is from Crookwell, west of Sydney in New South Wales, said the family were sailing near the Aden coast when five pirates in a fishing boat stopped them, claiming they were policemen. "At the beginning they sort of waved at us.