The land route to a key supply port in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is being closed after an attack by armed gangs, leaving the port unable to operate normally, the Caribbean Port Services (CPS) said on Thursday.

    "CPS will be closing all types of land traffic barriers from 26 to 29 September," it said in a statement. It said the suspension would allow the army and national police to ensure security in the area.

    A shipping official said this week that ships had been shot at, preventing them from docking and unloading containers, while authorities reported that two Filipino crew members on a cargo ship in the port had been kidnapped.

    As a result, Maersk has decided to immediately stop any new bookings to and from Haiti to prevent containers from piling up at the transfer terminal.

    "For bookings that have been confirmed but have not yet been allocated containers, we kindly request that you refrain from placing these containers until further notice in order to avoid further costs or losses to our customers and Maersk," the Danish carrier said in a customer consultation.

    Maersk noted that transit cargo will stay at its current ports.

    Haiti's leader addressed the UN General Assembly this week, warning that the security situation in the Caribbean nation was deteriorating despite the partial deployment of a UN-backed security force whose initial mandate expires in less than a week.

    Powerful gangs with weapons trafficked mainly from the United States have united in the capital into a common coalition that now controls most of the city and is expanding into nearby areas.

    More than 700,000 people are internally displaced, almost double the number six months ago. As food becomes more expensive and hunger rates soar, many are living in makeshift camps in schools without a regular source of income.

    "This situation is not only a humanitarian emergency, it is a threat to the stability of our country," Edgard LeBlanc Fels, president of Haiti's Transitional Council, told the UN General Assembly earlier on Thursday. "It's never too late to act."

    Food prices in Haiti rose 42 per cent in July from a year earlier, according to the World Food Programme.

    Leblanc also urged the Security Council to consider transforming the underfunded and understaffed Kenyan-led security force into a formal peacekeeping mission to ensure more stable funding, troops and equipment from U.N. member states.

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