Sanaa calls on UN to joint investigation into sinking container ship off Jizan coast

SANAA, Oct. 31 (YPA) – Minister of Transport, Abdel Wahab Al-Durra, called on the United Nations to conduct an urgent and joint investigation into the issue of the burning and sinking of the container ship, TSSpearl, off the coast of Jizan in the Red Sea.

During his meeting on Monday with the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the capital, Hassan al-Kbous, the minister explained that Saudi Arabia forces all ships entering the coalition-held Yemeni ports to go first to Jeddah or Djibouti port for inspection before allowing them to leave after long days from detention.

Al-Durra affirmed that the UN disregarded for the accident of the ship, which the Saudi-led coalition refused to help and save from heavy fire, which lasted nine days until it sank with the food and medicine containers for the Yemeni people.

He called for the ships of international shipping lines to enter Yemeni ports directly without converting them to intermediate ships aimed at preventing these accidents and the additional expenses that reflected on goods and merchandise.

The minister considered that the coalition’s continuation of piracy on ships in light of internationalist silence a violation of all international laws and agreements, calling for pressure on the concerned authorities to quickly compensate the merchants affected by the sinking of the ship and allow all ships to enter Hodeida port in implementation of the Stockholm Agreement.

AA