The independence of the State of Eritrea (“Eritrea”) in 1993 left the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (“Ethiopia”) without a direct outlet to the sea. Following Eritrea’s independence, most of Ethiopia’s export and import cargo continued to be shipped via the Eritrean ports of Assab, and to a much lesser extent, Massawa. Ethiopian cargo was transported to and from the ports by truck. Ethiopia contended that prior to the hostilities, about 250–270 trucks were loaded at the port of Assab each day. While Ethiopia initially asserted that Eritrea violated international law by taking measures in May 1998 to deny Ethiopia continued use of Eritrean ports, the claim as pleaded at the hearing focused on the fate of cargo bound to or from Ethiopia that was stranded in Eritrea when hostilities began in 1998, primarily import cargo located at the port of Assab.