After two months of Israeli raids... How is the operational capacity in Hodeidah ports?

Two months after the Israeli aggression on the port of Hodeidah (western Yemen), oil derivatives storage facilities were destroyed, leading to a decline in the capabilities of the ports, which are the main artery for the most densely populated Yemeni governorates, which are controlled by the Houthis.

On July 20, the Israeli occupation launched about 20 air strikes on the port of Hodeidah. The strikes mainly targeted fuel tanks in the port, causing huge fires that lasted for several days, in addition to destroying cranes in the port.

In this file, "Yemeni Youth Net" monitors the extent of the damage that befell the port of Hodeidah and other ports, after the Israeli raids, while the Houthis refrain from talking about the crisis they are suffering in the port of Hodeidah, which is the most important source of revenue for the group.

Several sources spoke of "a crisis in the supply of trailers during the past weeks at the ports of Hodeidah, and an attempt by the Houthis to cover it up" amid fears of a supply crisis in domestic gas. Truck drivers crowded at the port are demanding to be allowed to fill trailers from the Safer facility in Marib. The Houthis are refusing to respond or find solutions to the crisis.

Port capacity decline

Navigation sources in the ports of Hodeidah said that gas and fuel ships heading to the ports have declined significantly in the past two months, after an Israeli airstrike caused widespread damage to the main storage facilities in the port of Hodeidah. The sources added to "Yemeni Youth Net" that "there are no tankers registered to transport fuel or liquefied gas in Hodeidah heading to the port, according to the list of ships scheduled to dock at the port."

The Houthi-controlled Red Sea Ports Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce in the capital Sana’a, the regional center, and several Houthi news outlets have refrained from publishing ship movements at Hodeidah ports since mid-July, a week before the Israeli occupation raids, without explaining the failure to publish.

A source in one of the shipping companies reported that “the port of Hodeidah issued an official notice to ships, asking them not to arrive. This was a major indicator of their inability to receive oil and liquid gas.”

Gas truck drivers said in a statement in mid-September that one gas ship had been anchored at Ras Isa port for a long time and had only enough gas for 200-300 locomotives. They said that “a strong wind destroyed equipment at the port’s quay, which was built in a way that did not meet the standards, and put the quay out of service.”

Journalist Faris Al-Hamri revealed that a ship anchored in Ras Isa port slipped in early September and destroyed a network of pipes, equipment and valves, after the Houthis hired a new crew of technicians in recent weeks. This slippage disrupted the primitive unloading process that was taking place in the port.

Read more..

• Human Rights Watch: Israeli attack on Hodeidah port a 'possible war crime'
• Hodeidah Port.. Developed by the Yemeni Revolution, Militarized by the Houthis, and Burned by Israel
• Why did Israel choose to bomb oil facilities in the port of Hodeidah?

The capacity of the tanks in Ras Isa port is estimated at 50 thousand tons of fuel, and during the past year the Houthis claimed that they were seeking to build new tanks so that the capacity would reach 75 thousand tons. Despite the passage of a year since the Houthis’ announcement, there is no trace of those projects that they claimed they would implement..!!

Pictures from around the ports of Ras Isa and Salif show the lack of infrastructure, and the absence of any administrative or technical buildings to operate the two ports. There are also no gates to the port of Ras Isa, no wide asphalt lines, and no sidewalks either.

Navigational sources told Yemen Youth Net that Ras Issa port is small and known to be closed, and that its activity is twenty or thirty times slower than the main port of Hodeidah, and it lacks infrastructure, a dock, and other infrastructure necessary for its activity.

She stated that "previously, one tanker was unloaded every day according to the port's capabilities. Now, unloading one tanker takes between 20 and 30 days."

Damage to Hodeidah Port

Open source data shows the significant economic damage to the port of Hodeidah, with storage capacity shrinking from 40,000 to 50,000 tons. The previous unloading capacity before the Houthi coup was about 50,000 tons of oil and gas liquids every 48 hours or so, depending on the number of times ships dock and the size of those containers.