Houthis deny plan to charge fees for Red Sea passage

Yemen’s Houthi-run maritime authority pushed back Saturday against reports that the group was considering charging tolls to commercial vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center said in a statement.

The center said ships can continue to pass through the waterway without paying. It described its safe-passage service as voluntary, according to the statement.

The statement was issued in response to media reports that suggested the authorities were planning to impose fees on commercial shipping transits through the strait.

The Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center did not provide further details in the statement.

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