Spot Report: Hudaydah Port Fuel Storage and Cranes Damaged

Merchants have informed Navanti Group that previously operational and refurbished cranes at the Port of Hudaydah may have been damaged and may no longer be operational. In addition to the crane damage, the Hudaydah port’s storage capacity of 150,000 tons of fuel has been substantially damaged, leaving only 50,000 tons of fuel storage remaining in the Houthi-controlled governorate, but at the Ras Issa Terminal, located 48 miles north of the port of Hudaydah.

Before the recent airstrikes, the port had a total of ten cranes. On Berths 1–5, which handle general cargo and fuel, there were five Russian-made portal cranes. Two of these cranes were fully decommissioned, while the remaining three were operational but urgently needed ongoing maintenance. On Berths 6 and 7, designated for containers, there were five ship-to-shore gantry cranes, that were targeted in the recent airstrikes. Three of these gantry cranes, one Mitsubishi-made and two Figee, were demolished early in the decade-long war. The two remaining gantry cranes, built by Liebherr in 2011, had sustained damage but were undergoing repairs. Overall, out of the ten cranes at Hudaydah port, five were non-working and five were operational, though they required maintenance or significant repairs.

It is worth noting that in 2018, WFP and USAID donated four mobile cranes with a capacity of up to 60 tons each to the port of Hudaydah. However, the Houthi-controlled port has barely used them.