German ship carrying explosives for Israel allowed to dock in Egypt
The ship was previously denied permission to dock by Angola, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Malta
The German-flagged MV Kathrin cargo vessel carrying explosive material for Israel was given permission to dock in Egypt's Port of Alexandria this week after being rejected by several other nations.
According to a filing in a German court of appeals, the vessel carried eight shipping containers holding 150,000 kg of RDX explosives for Israeli Military Industries, the munitions production arm of Elbit Systems.
The Egyptian Marine Consultancy Office (EMCO) was responsible for allowing the ship to dock and reportedly helped unload its cargo, according to information available on the Alexandria Port website.
The ship-tracking website Marine Traffic and the financial data firm LSEG Data & Analytics show that the MV Kathrin docked in Egypt on Monday and is set to depart on 5 November.
“The docking of MV Kathrin at the port of Alexandria raises questions about why Egypt allowed the ship, carrying cargo used in Israeli military manufacturing, to enter its ports,” representatives from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) NGO told Middle East Eye.
BDS added that EMCO also rubber-stamped the departure of another ship headed for the Israeli port of Ashdod.
On Wednesday, human rights lawyers from the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) filed a petition in a Berlin court seeking to block the shipment of explosives on behalf of three Palestinians from Gaza.
“These explosive materials are used by the Israeli occupation forces to kill civilians in Gaza and, currently, in Lebanon for over a year,” the lawyers said in their complaint.
“The entry of these explosive shipments into Egypt poses not only a threat to Egyptian and Arab national security but also portrays Egypt as a country violating international resolutions and supporting the genocide against our Palestinian brothers and aggression against our sisters in Lebanon,” they added.
Lubeca Marine, a Germany-based company that owns the MV Kathrin, claimed the vessel “was never scheduled to make any port calls in Israel.”
Earlier this month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told parliament that Berlin would “always” continue delivering arms to Israel for its war against Lebanon and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
“There are deliveries, and there will always be further deliveries. Israel can rely on that … Israel can rely on our solidarity – now and in the future,” he stressed.
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