Yemen Shuts Major Ports, Kuwait Raises Security

Published Mar 26, 2015 2:55 PM by The Maritime Executive

Yemen shut its major seaports on Thursday, industry and local sources said, after neighboring Saudi Arabia and Arab allies launched air strikes against Iran-allied Houthi forces fighting Yemen's Western-backed president.

Warplanes bombed sites near Houthi-held capital Sanaa and their positions near the Saudi border. In the south, Houthis and army loyalists battled with militiamen loyal to Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi near the port city of Aden.

"All major seaports were shut down on Thursday due to the rising conflict," said an industry source. Local sources in Yemen confirmed the closure.

The U.S. coast guard issued restrictions on some vessels arriving into the United States from a number of Yemeni ports that "do not maintain effective anti-terrorism measures," according to a statement.

Yemen exports about 1.4-1.5 million barrels of Masila crude each month, mainly to China.

The ports closed include Aden, Al Mukalla, Al Mokha and Al Hudaydah, the sources said, giving no further details.

"It looks like no one is working at the ports across Yemen today," a shipping industry source told Reuters.

On Wednesday, public sector workers in Aden were instructed to return home and some residents armed themselves as the conflict between Hadi's supporters and the Houthis and their allies came to a head.

The U.S. coast guard said conditions of entry would be imposed on vessels arriving from al-Shehr and Al Hudaydah.

"The 2012 exception remains in place for vessels arriving from the Balhaf LNG," it added.

The majority of Yemen's oil production is located in the north of the country, while the rest comes from the southern area of Shabwa.

French oil company Total is the biggest foreign investor in Yemen and operates the Balhaf gas export facility, which mainly exports natural gas to Asia and Europe.

Kuwait Raises Security at Oil Facilities Due to Yemen Military Operations

State-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) said on Thursday the OPEC member has raised security around its oil facilities inside and outside the country after Saudi Arabia and Arab allies began a military operation in Yemen.

"In the light of developments in Yemen and to protect the strategic interests of the oil sector and securing oil products for inside and outside several procedures and precautionary steps taken," official news agency KUNA quoted KPC acting chief executive officer Mohammad al-Farhoud as saying.

These measures include "securing all industrial safety and security requirements and raising the level of security measures and to intensify the protection of oil installations in Kuwait and abroad," he said.