Yemen Government News

The cost of war risk insurance through the Red Sea remained stable on Monday despite the sinking of the Rubymar cargo ship as underwriters had already factored in the casualty after it was first hit by a missile last month, industry sources said.The cost of insuring a seven-day voyage through the Red Sea has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars since Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis began attacking shipping in the area in November in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in…

Yemen's government said Houthi rebels detained 10 oil and commercial vessels at Hodeidah port, Saudi Arabian state television said on Sunday.There was no immediate reaction from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group.(Reporting by Asma Alsharif Editing by Paul Tait)

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was installing four cranes at three ports in Yemen to help boost humanitarian aid deliveries and was ready to assist with installing cranes at the key port of Hodeidah once it was under control of a neutral party. The Saudi mission to the United Nations said in a statement that the cranes were being installed at the ports of Aden, Mukalla and Al-Mokha - which are all under the control of a Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen. The coalition has said it was determined to help Yemen's government retake all areas of the country held by Houthi militia, including Hodeidah port, and would ensure alternative entry routes for badly needed food and medicine.

Residents in the Yemeni capital Sanaa are stocking up on rare food and fuel supplies after the government in exile decided to divert aid ships from the Houthi rebel-held north to loyalist areas farther south. Sources in Yemen's government confirmed the move, though there has been no official announcement, and Yemen's exiled information minister said on Tuesday that commercial flights would be diverted from the capital to the southern port of Aden. The decisions come as southern fighters backed by weapons and air strikes by neighbouring Gulf states have made rapid gains on southern battlefields against the Iran-allied Houthis. A Saudi-led alliance has been bombing Yemen's dominant group since March in support of the country's exiled leadership…

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.

In late January of 2009, HP Terra-Marine International, LLC, sister company of HollowPoint Protective Services, LLC, successfully established a firm agreement and licensing from the Yemen government. As a result, HP Terra-Marine International, LLC, is now operating from several strategic Yemeni ports along the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. These bases in Yemen allow the company to provide professional armed security personnel for onboard vessel security through the east-west route in the Gulf of Aden. HP Terra-Marine International, LLC, now provides transport by boat of security personnel to and from the client’s vessel offshore from the company’s ports of operation. (www.hollowpointprotection.com)

The Yemen Times

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.

The Office of Counterterrorism of the U.S. Department of State issued a Fact Sheet

The Yemen Government released a Statement of 10 October saying that the Yemeni and French investigations into the incident on the French oil tanker LIMBURG are to go jointly. The final report should be prepared jointly. The IMO will send an expert to help assess the environmental effects of the oil spill. saying that it has no conclusion or indication as to whether the explosion was accidental or not. At the Briefing of October 10 conducted by the U.S. Department of State, the spokesman said that "terrorism has not been ruled out as a possible cause." In a related development, the U.S. apparently by al Qaeda leaders, against U.S. economic interests. Mariners are advised to be on a heightened state of alert and U.S.