Cargo ship’s defiant moment with links to Israel ignores Palestinian protesters in kayaks in a major Australian port
Pro-Palestinian protesters have tried to block an Israeli cargo ship from entering the Yarra River by paddling into its path.
A series of videos show about a dozen protesters moving alongside the 41,000-tonne cargo ship under Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge in the early hours of Thursday.
The ship named Vela, which was carrying containers belonging to Israel-based freight shipping company Zim, appeared unwilling to stop or get out of the way of protesters as it continued its journey to the Port of Melbourne.
Police interviewed about 30 kayakers who had staged a similar protest on December 7, but officers believed “no violations had been committed… and the group left the area.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters have tried to block an Israeli cargo ship from entering the Yarra River by paddling into its path.
Some sailors can be seen looking over the side of the ship as they pass the protesters.
Protesters on the riverbank are heard chanting anti-Israel slogans as one of the kayakers raises his paddle toward the ship’s hull towering above him.
“Israel out, out, out… From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free… Israel from Palestine, Israel from Palestine, Israel from the West Bank,” the group can be heard singing.
Zim has faced protests at least once a week since early November while operating at Sydney’s Port Botany or Melbourne Harbour.
Footage from December 7 shows a larger number of protesters forming a line of kayaks across the Yarra River to prevent another Zim vessel from passing.
The kayakers held the blockade for about two hours while the ship waited for a tugboat to break through so it could guide it into port.
A series of videos show about a dozen protesters moving alongside the 41,000-tonne cargo ship under Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge in the early hours of Thursday
Another protest in Sydney on November 11, led by the Palestine Justice Movement, saw a line of protesters on jet skis rather than kayaks.
Some activists had claimed that the ship would be carrying weapons supplies to be shipped to the Middle East so that Israeli forces could use them against Hamas in Gaza.
However, a Zim spokesperson dismissed the claims, saying the plane was simply on a regular flight between Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
“The ships carry a variety of Asian consumer products such as white goods, textiles and food,” a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
“The ship is not carrying any weapons loads.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Victoria Police for comment.