One of the big complaints of the largely successful Yemen ceasefire is that the blockade hasn’t been eased as much as it was meant to be. Last week, a ship was delayed, full of cooking fuel and approved for delivery by the UN, but held by the Saudis for over a week.
On Sunday, the ship was finally allowed into port. The Saudis did not provide any indication of why there was such a long delay after the UN already cleared the delivery.
As with many things, Yemen has to import the vast majority of cooking fuel, and the naval blockade has meant shortages and inconsistent supplies. The same holds true for most petroleum products, as well as food and medicine.
That was a big part of why the ceasefire became so important in Yemen, as it featured an easing, temporarily, of the blockade, and allowed Yemenis an opportunity to resupply for the first time in years.
Some have called on aid groups to do more to get extra supplies in during the ceasefire, though as the case of this ship showed, the easing of the blockade does not mean they won’t get hassled on the way in, or delayed for days or even weeks.
It was a powerplay but… it also shows the absolute incompetence of Saudis. They were also probably making sure this ship has no hidden cargo like armament but they r so incompetent it took them a week to do the check.