The regional Spanish press reports that it was initially headed towards Algeciras, but has cancelled its stop there, according to the Port authorities.
A protest was planned today in Algeciras under the banner “No Harbour for Genocide”.
Number Six says the vessel has so far not requested to call at Gibraltar.
My question is will Gibraltar grant it if requested in the next few days?
These sites say Gib is its destination:
- OVERSEAS SANTORINI, Chemical/Oil Products Tanker - Details and current position - IMO 9435909 - VesselFinder
- https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:357555/mmsi:303270000/imo:9435909/vessel:OVERSEAS_SANTORINI
- OVERSEAS SANTORINI LIVE MAP Current Position Ship Tracker | FleetMon
More on "No Harbour for Genocide":
An oil tanker called the Overseas Santorini is crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It carries an estimated 300,000 barrels of military fuel, loaded from the Bill Greehey oil refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas destined for the port of Ashkelon, Israel. From there, the jet fuel will be unloaded and used to fuel the Israeli Air Force’s F16 and F35 that drop bombs on the people of Gaza. 300,000 barrels of fuel are sufficient for around 12,000 F-16 refuelings.
This journey is not a one-off. Roughly every two months since 2014, either the Overseas Santorini or the Overseas Sun Coast make this journey to supply military-grade jet fuel from Valero Energy, through a U.S. government contract to Israel. Their standard route for transporting JP-8 fuel from Valero’s Corpus Christi refinery in Texas to Israel’s port of Ashkelon includes stops in the Bahamas, at Algeciras, Spain, and Limassol, Cyprus.
Overseas Santorini cancels call at Port of Algeciras
The ship Overseas Santorini has cancelled the call it had requested at the Port of Algeciras. The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) had indicated that, in the face of the protests called against the docking of the ship, it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that must deny, if necessary, the entry of the ship into Spanish jurisdictional waters and, if so, the Maritime Administration would act accordingly.
The ship, which had requested entry into the port of Algeciras, has been the subject of controversy due to the cargo it carries, as it is presumably fuel for military aircraft. Environmental groups and NGOs have been denouncing that the Overseas Santorini departed the United States for Israel with a cargo of 300,000 barrels of military fuel for Israeli air force aircraft. The protests organized to prevent their docking were in response to concerns raised by various local groups.
According to this article, "Gibraltarian government is being sent "the same message as the Spanish one, that it should comply with international legislation. We demand that states do not provide military aid to Israel, since they are going to massacre the civilian population"
A hundred people, members of pro-Palestinian organisations, demonstrated this Saturday in Algeciras (Cádiz) to demand the blocking of international ports of the ship 'Overseas Santorini', which is heading to Israel with military fuel.
The demonstration took place one day after the 'Overseas Santorini', which is currently sailing in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, cancelled the stopover it had planned in the port of this town in Cádiz.
The spokesperson for the Solidarity Network Against the Occupation of Palestine (Rescop), Ana Sánchez, considered that this decision by the ship "is a response to the mobilisations, because in the past it had passed through the port of Algeciras without any problems."
However, the pro-Palestinian activist has said that "both in this case and in the case of the 'Borkum' in the port of Cartagena, both were detained and did not transit through Spanish ports thanks to social pressure, not because the Government took measures," so she has stressed that it is the responsibility of the Executive "to break relations with a genocidal and apartheid regime."
Sánchez has pointed out that the 'Overseas Santorini' left the port of Corpus Christi, in Texas (United States), last Thursday, bound for the port of Ashkelon, in Israel, loaded with 300,000 barrels of JP8 fuel, used by Israeli army planes to bomb the Gaza Strip.
"We demand from the Government what we have been asking for ten months, that it breaks the purchase of all arms trade with Israel," she added.
Gibraltar Port
The 'Overseas Santorini' continues sailing in the waters of the Atlantic towards the Strait of Gibraltar. After having cancelled its stopover in the port of Algeciras, the ship indicates in its navigation sheet on the internet that the new port of call will be Gibraltar, where it maintains the date of arrival next Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.
Despite this, there is still no official confirmation in this regard. On this matter, the spokesperson for Rescop has indicated that the possible mobilizations that take place in Gibraltar will depend on whether they are carried out by local groups on the Rock: "We would have to see it and leave autonomy to the local groups in each place. What we would do is support the work and leadership of these groups," she said.
The Gibraltarian government is being sent "the same message as the Spanish one, that it should comply with international legislation. We demand that states do not provide military aid to Israel, since they are going to massacre the civilian population," he insisted.
Sánchez also recalled that "this action is part of a global campaign of action to embargo Israel's energy and will be repeated in all the ports where it stops," so he has made a request to the international community to "put the means at its disposal to break the complicity with the genocide, because Israel could not continue to perpetrate it without international support."
He clarified that the groups will remain attentive to the steps that the navigation of the 'Overseas Santorini' continues to take in the area: "The ships know that, when they pass through a port of the Spanish State, they will have the whole of civil society protesting and demanding that the Government stop their stopover. It is a message to the large cargo ships that carry this type of merchandise to Israel. They will not be well received," he concluded.
