"Greek Dock Workers Prevent Ammunition Being Loaded for Israel"

Dock workers in Piraeus stopped a truck from North Macedonia carrying ammunition bound for Israel from entering the port, saying they will not allow the port to become a transit point for weapons of war.

Dock workers gathered at the gates of Greece’s largest port, Piraeus, on Thursday evening and prevented the loading of a container ship with a military cargo bound for Israel.

One of the largest workers’ unions in Piraeus, the Union of Cargo Handling Workers, ENEDEP, called on other port workers to prevent truck, which came from North Macedonia, from entering the port and its container of cartridges being loaded onto a Marshall Islands-flagged ship destined for Israel.

A Coast Guard spokesperson told BIRN that it cannot comment on the case as it is in the preliminary investigation phase. “The vehicle [carrying the cartridges] was transferred to the Port Authority of Keratsini, which is conducting a preliminary investigation,” it said on Friday.

Piraeus Container Terminal, PCT, one of the leading container terminals in the Mediterranean, is a company founded in Greece, and is a fully controlled subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited.

It told BIRN that it was not responsible for the shipment. “We do not have jurisdiction regarding cargo, but the Greek authorities and primarily the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy do. The cargo stopped at the port gates. We have a contractual obligation only to allow the cargo to be transported based on safety rules,” Nina Argyropoulou, PCT’s spokeswoman, told BIRN. [...]

The Workers’ Centre of Piraeus, the Metal Union of Attica and the Shipbuilding Industry of Greece, the Union of Shipwrights, workers, youngsters and other organisations in Piraeus all took part in the action to stop the shipment. The main slogan was that dock workers “do not dye their hands with people’s blood”.

“We will not allow the port of Piraeus to become a base for war. We demand .. that all our country’s involvement in wars stop,” said a press release issued by ENEDEP.

It’s not the first time that union workers have prevented the loading of cargo intended for Israel. In June, EDENEP prevented the ship MSC Altair from approaching the Port of Piraeus, which, among other things, was transporting military materiel to Israel. [...]