The cargo ship ‘MV Kathrin’, one of the vessels that make up the Madeira International Shipping Register’s ‘fleet’ and which flies under the Portuguese flag, is suspected of transporting weapons to Israel. In recent days, there have been several reports that the ship is blocked in the waters of Namibia, south of Africa, having arrived from Vietnam, with eight containers containing military equipment for the Israeli army.
After the Left Bloc raised the issue last week, launching “a petition for the Portuguese flag to be removed from the ship carrying explosives to Slovenia and Montenegro and for the cargo to be returned to its origin”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs “clarified the following day that the ship, which is carrying explosives, has a Portuguese flag but is German and ‘is not going to Israel'”, the issue has now reached the UN.
On Saturday, a United Nations human rights expert issued a warning about this ship that is carrying tons of explosives to Israel under the Portuguese flag, “reiterating calls for an immediate arms embargo against the occupying entity to prevent further genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip,” stressed the UN special rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese.
The post was made on the social network X, with Albanese warning that, based on the information received, “the ship ‘Kathrin’, flying the Portuguese flag, is expected to deliver 8 containers of explosives to Israel”. And he explains: “These explosives are allegedly key components in the bombs and air missiles that Israel is using against besieged Gaza and in its genocidal campaign against the Palestinians. Given that Namibia has rightfully denied access to the port to the ‘Kathrin’, upholding international law, my hope is that Angola will follow Namibia’s example and not consent to sheltering the ship. This could be a serious violation of the Genocide Convention.”
In an article on the Iranian portal ‘Press TV’, the cargo ship ‘MV Kathrin’, which “sailes under the flag of Madeira, is currently anchored off the coast of Namibia, as the southwest African country has refused to allow it entry into its ports. Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, is an archipelago made up of four islands off the northwest coast of Africa”, the report adds.
Francesca Albanese, quoted in the article, says she is “extremely concerned about Portugal’s potential sponsorship of the ship and its facilitation of the handover of the Kathrin.” This could be a violation of the Genocide Convention. Critical reminder: Any military transfer to Israel, which the ICJ has determined could plausibly be committing genocide, amounts to a violation of the Genocide Convention and HRC resolution 55/L.30, which mandates an arms embargo on Israel,” the UN envoy concluded.
Built in 2010, the ship belongs to the German company Concord Shipping.