Satellite images obtained by Al-Jazeera ... The continued detention of oil derivatives ships and preventing them from entering Hodeidah

Satellite images obtained by the monitoring and verification unit on the island, "Sanad", showed the continued detention of oil derivative ships off the coast of the Red Sea, and preventing them from reaching the Hodeidah port, which is controlled by the Houthis.

Satellite images and marine navigation monitoring data indicate that some of these ships have been held captive in international waters near the Eritrean islands of Dhalka since last April.

The Houthis accuse the Saudi-Emirati coalition of detaining oil derivative ships off the coast of the Red Sea and preventing them from entering the port of Hodeidah, which exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The Houthis say that the Yemeni government and the Saudi-Emirati coalition have pirated ships of oil derivatives coming to the port of Hodeidah, while the Yemeni government's Economic Committee confirms that it has provided alternatives to alleviate the suffering of citizens, and has made all its efforts to transfer oil derivatives from their areas of control to the areas of Houthi control. Al-Houthi prevented more than 150 fuel trailers from entering areas under its control.

According to a statement issued by the Houthi-affiliated Oil Company, the number of oil derivative ships held by the Saudi-Emirati coalition reached 21.

The Monitoring and Verification Unit of the Al-Jazeera Network (SANAD) documented the ships' itineraries via satellite, and the monitoring showed the presence of more than 18 vessels detained in the Red Sea after obtaining the permits of the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mission in Djibouti (UNVIM).

The Houthi oil company in Yemen says that the delay penalties for those ships will cost them more than $ 37 million until the end of August 2020, and that they will be added to the price of the seized oil.

What will increase the cost of buying oil for the Yemeni citizen.

One of the "Sentinel" satellite images obtained by the "Sanad" unit of the Al Jazeera network

Ships' itinerary

The "Sanad" unit has obtained satellite images that prove the presence and location of the ships and their detention in international waters near the Eritrean islands of Dhalka, and the images show the presence of some of these ships in the same place since April 2020.

We tried to communicate with these ships and ask their owners about the reasons for detaining them, and who is responsible for that?

But we have not received any response.

The detained ships congregate in a spot near the Eritrean islands of Dhalka, about 70 km away, about 200 km from the Jizan port, and about 250 km from the port of Hodeidah.

Ships travel their route to the port of Djibouti first in order to obtain the necessary permits from the United Nations before returning and waiting for the entry signal to the port of Hodeidah.

Relief Troubled

In his remarks to the Security Council last July, the United Nations Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, warned the world that "never before has the humanitarian crisis in Yemen been worse."

The fuel shortage that followed the seizure of oil ships led to a sharp rise in fuel prices, inflated costs of water, transportation, electricity, and commodities reaching 3 times their price, and the spread of the informal market (black market) for oil.

According to Lowcock, the humanitarian work in Yemen faces a great danger if the fuel crisis continues, which threatens to reduce or close more humanitarian services and programs in the governorates of Sana'a, Taiz, Ibb, Al-Dhalea, Marib, Al-Jawf, Saada, Hajjah and Al-Hudaydah, and its suspension puts hundreds of lives at risk.

The shortage and high costs of transportation have affected all humanitarian response projects and caused the suspension or reduction of the food provision program, which provides food baskets to more than 66 thousand displaced, vulnerable and affected families due to the floods, in addition to depriving about 334 thousand families of water supply, sanitation and hygiene services, as well. Protection programs granted to more than 54,000 families, along with a reduction in shelter support for non-food items, have been damaged for 42,000 families. School rehabilitation projects and livelihood training programs, which depend on power generators, are suffering from stoppage, curtailment and suspension.

The UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffith warned of the catastrophic and widespread humanitarian consequences of the fuel shortage, saying that "life in Yemen is tough enough, and it is not permissible to force the Yemenis to suffer more in order to obtain their basic daily needs."

According to the report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen (OCHA), the fuel crisis in the northern governorates represents another shock to the humanitarian situation.

The medical section

According to a statement by the Houthi Ministry of Health, more than 60% of the health sector's work is threatened with stoppage, and it expects that the work of about 150 hospitals and government agencies and 163 private hospitals will cease - partially or completely - in addition to the closure of about 5,000 governmental and private centers and dispensaries, as well as causing the The crisis by disrupting pharmaceutical factories and spoiling some medicines in the event that oil derivatives run out, depriving Yemenis of health care services.

The Ministry warned that the continuation of the crisis will lead to an exacerbation of the Corona epidemic, and the closure of the major and minor operations departments and the 275 nursery departments in government hospitals and the weakening of those nurseries in private hospitals, which threatens the lives of the newborns who need them, except that the dialysis patients - who number more Of the 3,000 patients who undergo washing sessions twice a week - they are most at risk, followed by people suffering from chronic diseases such as tumors, strokes and bleeding.

Vessel Detention Map (Marine Traffic)

Telecom sector

The damage caused by the oil derivatives crisis extends to the telecommunications sector, as the Houthi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has warned of an imminent complete or partial suspension of communications networks and the Internet in Yemen, which will cause the Yemenis to isolate from the world, and will result in the disruption of more than 1,842 hospitals, universities and educational facilities.

In addition to depriving more than two million students, researchers and academics from scientific research and development services, the interruption of internet service will lead to complete paralysis in various sectors, institutions and humanitarian organizations operating in Yemen, and the freezing of commercial and banking services.

Agriculture and industry

Despite the humanitarian disasters that afflict the various service and vital sectors in Yemen, farmers represent the group most vulnerable to losses.

Due to the lack of oil derivatives, as farmers are exposed to the exploitation of black market traders in order to obtain fuel;

In order to be able to irrigate his farms and transfer his goods to the markets, as this led to an inflated price of agricultural crops.

With regard to the industrial sector, the statistics of the Houthi Chamber of Commerce stated that more than 350 factories have stopped operating.

Due to the crisis of lack of oil derivatives last year, during which more than 980,000 workers lost their jobs, and there are expectations that the losses that the industrial sector will suffer this year will exceed all previous losses.

The politicization of the fuel file

On September 7, the European Union Commission accused the Houthi group on the one hand, and the Yemeni government and the Saudi-Emirati alliance on the other hand, of politicizing the oil derivatives file, the effects of which developed until the Minister of Transport of the Houthi group announced the closure of Sanaa International Airport to UN and humanitarian missions due to the depletion Fuel, which was condemned by the Yemeni Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the legitimate government and promised to trade in the suffering of Yemenis.

The institutions affiliated with the Houthi group are calling on the United Nations to pressure the Yemeni government and the Saudi-Emirati coalition to allow oil derivative ships to enter Hodeidah port in order to stop the exacerbation of the human suffering caused by the coalition's detention of ships.

However, the Yemeni government says that the Houthis have so far rejected initiatives to solve the crisis, the last of which was an unanswered initiative presented by the Yemeni government in late August 2020, which stipulates that “the Yemeni government shall introduce oil derivatives into the port of Hodeidah, in exchange for depositing all its revenues into a special account. New that is not subject to the Houthi group, or through a specific mechanism in which the United Nations guarantees the preservation of these revenues so that they are not disposed of until after agreement on the exchange mechanism.