Data through 2026-10-25 (25 October 2026)
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Gang violence halts container and oil terminals at Port-au-Prince

Gang violence halts container and oil terminals at Port-au-Prince. The disruption ran from 2024-03-04 (week of 4 March 2024) to 2024-05-03 (3 May 2024), affecting Port Au Prince. The measured effect for this event has not been computed yet.

World Freight Monitor permanent record. https://worldfreightmonitor.com/events/2024/gang-violence-halts-terminals-port-au-prince-2024/. Record last updated 2026-10-29.

Key facts

Started
2024-03-04 (week of 4 March 2024)
Ended
2024-05-03 (3 May 2024)
Status
ended
Severity
3 Significant
Scope
port
Chokepoints
None
Lanes
None
Countries
Haiti
Confidence
medium: The closures and the Varreux dates come from OCHA and the Logistics Sector, but the container terminal's start rests on one press report and its resumption date was not found.
First reported
2024-03-15 (15 March 2024)
  • Severity basis: The main container terminal at Port-au-Prince received no container ships for about a month from the week of 2024-03-04, and the Varreux oil terminal was closed from 2024-04-22 until 2024-05-03, a port-level closure of more than 7 days.

What happened

From the week of 2024-03-04 (4 March 2024), gang violence in Port-au-Prince left the capital's main seaport largely idle. A Logistics Sector update dated 2024-03-15 reported that the national port facility was not fully operational, that Caribbean Port Services (CPS), the main container terminal operator, was not working, and that more than 300 aid containers were stranded. A Haitian newspaper reported on 2024-04-04 that no container ship had docked at CPS for a month and that no arrival date was set. The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) reported that the Varreux oil terminal was closed from 2024-04-22 after repeated attacks and reopened on 2024-05-03. On 2024-05-23 OCHA still described seaport operations as irregular. The sources found do not say when container shipping resumed at CPS.

Measured effect

Container ship port calls, Port Au Prince

Not yet computed. The effect engine (wfm-effect-1.2) will compare 2024-03-04 to 2024-05-03 with a 56 day baseline ending 8 days before the start, once the series for this window is loaded.

Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.

This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.

Tanker port calls, Port Au Prince

Not yet computed. The effect engine (wfm-effect-1.2) will compare 2024-03-04 to 2024-05-03 with a 56 day baseline ending 8 days before the start, once the series for this window is loaded.

Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.

This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.

Timeline

  1. Port activity is halted or sharply reduced after violence engulfs the capital from 2024-02-29. No container ship docks at CPS from about this week, according to a later press report. [s2]
  2. The Logistics Sector reports that the national port facility is not fully operational and that CPS is not working but may resume soon. More than 300 aid containers are stranded and at risk of looting. [s1]
  3. A Haitian newspaper reports that no container ship has docked at CPS for a month, and that an official source has no date for the next arrivals. [s2]
  4. The Varreux oil terminal is closed after repeated attacks by armed groups, raising fears of fuel supply problems. [s3]
  5. OCHA reports that the Logistics Sector has retrieved more than 100 humanitarian containers from CPS over the previous three weeks. [s3]
  6. The Varreux oil terminal reopens, and diesel and gasoline are shipped out between 2024-05-03 and 2024-05-06. [s4]
  7. OCHA reports that several dozen humanitarian containers remain blocked at the port and describes seaport operations as irregular. [s5]

Cause

OCHA and the Logistics Sector attributed the closures to violence and repeated attacks by armed groups in and around Port-au-Prince. No source cited here attributes the attacks to a named group. Attributed by: UN OCHA and the Logistics Sector. [s1] [s3] [s4]

Resolution

2024-05-03 (3 May 2024): The Varreux oil terminal reopened on 2024-05-03. The sources found do not give a date on which container ships resumed calling at CPS, and OCHA still reported blocked containers and irregular seaport operations on 2024-05-23, so this end date marks the last documented terminal closure in the episode only. [s4] [s5]

Corrections

No corrections to this record as of 2026-10-29 (29 October 2026).

Sources

  1. [s1] Logistics Cluster (WFP and DGPC), Haiti Logistics Sector, Haiti Emergency 2024 - Situation update 15 March 2024, published 2024-03-15 (15 March 2024), accessed 2026-10-28. Archived copy. (official)
  2. [s2] Le Nouvelliste, CPS goes shipless for a month, no maritime line arrivals expected, published 2024-04-04 (4 April 2024), accessed 2026-10-28. Archived copy. (press)
  3. [s3] UN OCHA, Haiti Emergency Situation Report No. 20 (As of 24 April 2024), published 2024-04-24 (24 April 2024), accessed 2026-10-28. Archived copy. (official)
  4. [s4] UN OCHA, Haiti Emergency Situation Report No. 22 (As of 9 May 2024), published 2024-05-09 (9 May 2024), accessed 2026-10-28. Archived copy. (official)
  5. [s5] UN OCHA, Haiti Emergency Situation Report No. 24 (As of 23 May 2024), published 2024-05-23 (23 May 2024), accessed 2026-10-28. Archived copy. (official)

Cite this record

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Plain text

World Freight Monitor. "Gang violence halts container and oil terminals at Port-au-Prince." Last updated 2026-10-29 (29 October 2026). https://worldfreightmonitor.com/events/2024/gang-violence-halts-terminals-port-au-prince-2024/

APA

World Freight Monitor. (2026). Gang violence halts container and oil terminals at Port-au-Prince. World Freight Monitor. https://worldfreightmonitor.com/events/2024/gang-violence-halts-terminals-port-au-prince-2024/

BibTeX

@misc{wfm_gang_violence_halts_terminals_port_au_prince_2024,
  author = {{World Freight Monitor}},
  title = {Gang violence halts container and oil terminals at Port-au-Prince},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Last updated 2026-10-29},
  url = {https://worldfreightmonitor.com/events/2024/gang-violence-halts-terminals-port-au-prince-2024/}
}