Assessing the Effects of a War on a Container Terminal: Lessons from Al Hudaydah, Yemen

Abstract

This paper is focused on the case of the container terminal of Al Hudaydah port (Yemen) and on its situation on the battlefront in a country struggling with a civil war since 2014, despite the military intervention of a Saudi‐led coalition since 2015. The goal is to propose a comprehensive OSINT methodology to evaluate the case of this terminal which is the first container terminal hardly impacted by a modern conflict. This study belongs to the field of port geography studies and aims to contribute to a better comprehension of transport and security/development nexus, build on an easy‐to‐use GIS methodology based on open access data. Lessons learnt from Al Hudaydah container terminal are a step in the description of the relations and dynamics between war and terminals/ports. The main results show that war and battle have two different effects: war leads to long‐term effects probably linked to hinterland attrition and change in port hierarchy; battle lead to short/medium‐term effects linked to battlefront distance and road blockade. Finally, the port is a valuable asset for both sides involved in the Yemeni Civil War, but it is difficult to evaluate further the importance of the terminal than a sign of the port dynamics.