By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Namibian authorities have blocked a vessel suspected to be carrying military cargo intended for Israeli use in its ongoing war in Gaza, a ship that had requested for permission to dock in the southern African country.
The ship was stopped because it had “explosive material destined for Israel”, Namibian Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab told state media.
The vessel, MV Kathrin, which took off from Vietnam, had requested to dock in the port of Walvis Bay, before sailing north, on a suspected route towards the Mediterranean via the Strait of Gibraltar, a BBC report says.
Rights groups had warned that Namibia could have been implicated in potential human rights violations if it had allowed the vessel to dock.
It is not clear why the ship wanted to dock, but vessels on long journeys tend to stop for supplies, respite or to offload or take on cargo, experts had said.
Last December, Namibia’s neighbour and ally South Africa launched an ongoing case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel rejects the allegation of genocide as “baseless”.
The conflict began after Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel on 7 October last year, during which over 1000 persons were killed while about 251 others were taken hostage.
Walvis Bay is Namibia’s largest commercial port, receiving nearly 900 vessels and handling about eight million tonnes of cargo per year, according to the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport).
The MV Kathrin was stopped on Monday in accordance with Namibia’s support for the Palestinian people and the country’s call for an end to the violence in Gaza, the Justice Minister told the state-run New Era news website.
Citing a police investigation, she said the vessel was “indeed carrying explosive material destined for Israel, and was therefore prohibited from entering Namibian waters”.
“Namibia complies with our obligation not to support or be complicit in Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, as well as its unlawful occupation of Palestine,” she said.
Namibian human rights organisation the Economic and Social Justice Trust (ESJT) while welcoming the move said, “We are pleased that our government has decided to respect international law and decided not to be complicit to genocide.”
