by Manal Barakat, SeaNewsEditor

Haiti’s Caribbean Port Services (CPS) has shut off land access to its port in Port-au-Prince due to escalating gang violence.

The CPS will shut its barriers to all types of land-based traffic, according to a Reuters report.

Effective 26 to 29 September, the closures will allow the army and national police to secure the area.

The port has been paralysed by attacks, including shootings at ships, preventing them from docking and unloading containers.

The authority also reported the kidnapping of two Filipino crew members.

Danish carrier Maersk said it decided to stop any new bookings from and to Haiti to prevent the accumulation of boxes at the transhipment terminals.

These port events exacerbate the severe humanitarian situation in Haiti, which caused the displacement of over 700,000 people.