The Yemeni National Salvation Government oil company announced on Wednesday night that two of the fuel tankers seized by the Saudi coalition had been freed.
The Saudi-led coalition has allowed four fuel ships to dock at Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah, two sources familiar with the matter said, after the Houthi group said it would only agree to a ceasefire proposal if an air and sea blockade were lifted.
Four vessels, including two carrying a total of 45,000 tonnes of gas oil, a ship loaded with 5,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas and the fourth tanker with 22,700 tonnes of fuel oil have received clearance from the coalition, the sources said.
As of Wednesday morning, the four vessels had not yet begun moving towards Hodeidah port, which is controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi group battling the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
The deputy transport minister of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, Nasser Sharif, said on Twitter that a number of oil ships had been allowed to the port of Hodeidah to ease the humanitarian situation. He did not give further details.
The blockade of Yemeni ports has been one of the main causes of the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
Coalition warships off Hodeidah were holding up 14 fuel tankers as of March 23 even though they had secured U.N clearance, United Nations data showed. Some have been waiting six months to dock.
Four other ships left without docking after waiting months.
The Houthis said the Saudi offer fell short of their demand for a complete lifting of the air and sea blockade, but that the group would continue to talk to the kingdom, the United States, and mediator Oman in pursuit of a peace deal.
On Tuesday the Houthis launched a drone attack on an airport in southern Saudi Arabia.
