The Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) announced on 6 June that, in violation of the UN-sponsored agreement between Sanaa and Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition had seized a fuel tanker carrying 30,314 tons of fuel, stopping it from docking at the port of Hodeidah.

The spokesman for the YPC, Essam al-Mutawakel, said in a tweet on 5 June that the Saudi-led coalition had seized the fuel tanker despite the tanker having UN clearance to dock at Hodeidah.

تحالف العدوان بقيادة أمريكا يحتجز السفينة "ڤيڤيانا" والتي تحمل كمية 30,314 طن من مادة الديزل ويمنعها من الوصول الى ميناء الحديدة بالرغم من تفتيشها وحصولها على تصاريح دخول من الأمم المتحدة وبهذا يرتفع عدد السفن المحتجزة الى سفينتي وقود جميعها مفتشة وحاصلة على تصاريح دخول اممية. pic.twitter.com/39MhehLOVH

— عصام المتوكل (@YPCSpokesperson) June 5, 2022

In a similar incident on 3 June, Riyadh seized a fuel ship carrying 22,915 tons of fuel and 7,296 tons of diesel, which was scheduled to dock at Hodeidah port.

The vessel was impounded despite being inspected and cleared by UN authorities, Al-Mutawakil added.

He noted that the Saudi coalition has pressed ahead with its acts of piracy against fuel tankers carrying oil to Yemen.

The UN announced that Yemen and Saudi Arabia agreed to renew a two-month truce on 2 June, the day the ceasefire was set to expire.

It is unclear what convinced Sanaa and Riyadh to agree to a renewal of the truce at the last minute.

Since the implementation of the ceasefire in April, the Saudi-led coalition has impounded several humanitarian fuel shipments bound for Yemen in blatant violation of the agreement.

A few of the ships seized by Riyadh were allowed to enter Yemeni waters after prolonged delays.

A military official told Yemen’s Saba News Agency on 5 May that within a month of the start of the truce, coalition forces had committed 5,365 violations of the truce agreement.

The official said the violations of the Saudi-led coalition included “offensive operations, infiltration attempts, air raids, flights of warplanes, Apache and spy planes, missile and artillery targets, and extensive targeting with bullets.”

According to the news agency, these violations led to the death and injury of a number of citizens, as well as damage to properties and farms.

The illegal air and sea blockade imposed by Riyadh has severely restricted the entry of humanitarian aid and essential goods, such as fuel and food, into the country, and has caused what the UN calls “one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time.”