Strike closes DP World-run Aden port
A strike has paralysed Yemen's Aden container port, operated by United Arab Emirates-based DP World , for at least the past 10 days, an Aden-based shipping source and a union official said, reported Reuters.
"The strike has led to total paralysis and has stopped movement at the port since ships are not being received," the union official said.
Aden Container Terminal is operated by a joint venture between DP World, the world's third largest port operator, and Yemen Gulf of Aden Port Corporation.
The union official said workers would continue their strike until managers met their demands to be paid the same as staff in other DP World ports.
Yemen, the poorest Arab country, is still reeling from political upheaval that eventually unseated former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and paralysed the impoverished Arabian peninsula state for most of 2011.
The location of the small, non-OPEC oil producer on the strategically important Bab al-Mandab strait, through which millions of barrels of oil are shipped between Asia, Europe and the Americas, makes instability there a risk to global trade.
"Our primary concern is the well-being and safety of our people. We are in close contact with all parties concerned and hope to resolve the situation and resume operations as soon as possible," a spokesman for DP World said but did not elaborate.