INSECURITY in the flashpoint Houthi-held Port of Hodeidah in Yemen are deterring shipping companies from calling at the city's port, where operations have halved in the past two weeks. "Shipping companies appear to be reluctant to call to Hodeidah port because of the high levels of insecurity in the city," spokesman Herve Verhoosel for the United Nation's World Food Programme told a news briefing. As 70 per cent of imports arrive via Hodeidah port, a drop in wheat imports and other essential supplies would deplete food stocks in the country where 14 million people face possible starvation, Reuters cited WFP as saying.