The HC Opal, operated by Danish company Ocean 7 Projects and managed by Germany’s Marlow Navigation Co. Ltd., offloaded at least 10 tonnes of Hexachloroethane at Haifa port on 4 June. Hexachloroethane is a military chemical, which the Israel Military Industries (IMI) uses to produce its M150 155 mm artillery gun projectile.
Hexachloroethane was consigned to IMI Systems, a fully owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. The offloaded substance is a key component in the M150 155mm artillery shell, crucial weapon in the genocide in Gaza and very commonly used by the Israeli military in other ground invasions, such as in Lebanon.
On 29 May, Antigua and Barbuda had issued an official maritime directive explicitly prohibiting vessels flying its flag from transporting arms or military equipment to conflict zones. The HC Opal subsequently went dark. Its Automatic Identification System (AIS) was disabled on the very same day.
Evidence of the cargo’s unloading in Israel, indicates that the vessel re-emerged on radar only on 5 June, by which time the military cargo had already been discharged. Further evidence of cargo unloading is shown by the vessel’s decreased draught—1.6 meters less than when it was last visible—indicating a significant reduction in onboard weight consistent with unloading large quantities of cargo.
“Going dark’ is in violation of the obligations under international maritime conventions, including obligations under the jurisdiction of Antigua and Barbuda” said No Harbour for Genocide initiative, a campaign that brings together various civil society groups, human rights organisations, and legal experts. “While these actions might mask public scrutiny on the vessel’s movement, they strengthen the case for holding the captain, operators, insurer and owners of the HC Opal accountable in the transport of military illegal material.”
Europe
Europe community on dbzer0. Intended to be a place to discuss European news, politics, or just general topics from a European perspective. Since this is on dbzer0 expect the community to lean more leftist-anarchist but a wide range of views are accepted here (within reason).
Rules:
1. No Bigotry or Hate Speech
Any forms of Homophobia, Transphobia, Queerphobia, Racism, or Ableism will be met with swift and harsh action and will not be tolerated here whatsoever. Bigots will be banned immediately on-sight. This includes apologia of it.
Trying to be politely or intellectually bigoted i.e. "Just asking questions" won't be tolerated.
2. No Zionism
Any forms of Zionism or Zionist rhetoric will not be tolerated here, this includes Zionist apologia, accusations of antisemitism towards anti-Zionists, or blatant denial or downplaying of the genocide towards Palestinians. Any attempt to uphold or prop up the IHRA definition of antisemitism, will be treated as Zionism.
Anyone engaging in Pro-Zionist sentiment or apologia will be actioned in accordance with its severity.
Note: Trying to find loopholes or whataboutery to see what is or isn't genocide denial or Zionism will be treated as a violation of this rule. Don't test us.
3. Stay Civil
Please maintain civil discourse in the community. Do not engage in arguments with others, name-calling, or insults. Note that calling out bigotry or Zionism is not considered an insult. In heated arguments users are encouraged to or even required to disengage failure to do so will result in mod action.
4. No Misinformation
Spreading of misinformation intentionally in this community is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Spreading misinformation hurts the credibility of the community and can mislead people sometimes in dangerous ways. Users who intentionally post misinformation as articles, comment answers, or in attempt to win arguments will be actioned swiftly.
Note: This includes Russian and Chinese propaganda. Users with a history of such posting will be banned on sight.
5. No AI Content
Please do not post articles or content primarily created using generative AI. Generative AI content may contain misinformation or be lower quality and thus is discouraged. Posts and comments featuring it will be removed. However this community does not allow or tolerate Anti-AI trolling or hostility and users who engage in such behavior will be actioned for it, additionally Anti-AI trolling violates Rule 3 and often Rule 4 so it is generally unacceptable already.
Note: Rules 1 & 2 may be subject to preemptive mod action due to their severity, and they apply to a user's entire post history. Not just this community.