SPAIN hopes to persuade other European countries to recognise a Palestinian state and has refused docking to ships transporting arms to Israel, reports Agence France-Presse.
The US-flagged 6,188-TEU Maersk Denver diverted first to Tangier and according to VesselFinder, is now en route to Oman.
A Maersk container ship had been denied entry to the Spanish port of Algeciras, the Danish shipping company said, denying that the vessel is transporting arms to Israel.
'The cargo to be transshipped through the port does not include any military weapons or ammunition,' Maersk said.
Spanish daily El Pais earlier this week had cited Spanish government officials saying that the ship, as well as another also belonging to Maersk and due to dock later in November, 'will not stop in Spain' because its cargo includes weapons being delivered to Israel.
'To gain clarity for future operations, we have consulted the Spanish authorities to understand why entry was denied for cargo no different than previous shipments that have routinely been transshipped through this port without incident,' Maersk said.
'It is our understanding that spain has in its discretion changed its criteria and is now rejecting vessels that carry anything military related going to, or from, Israel, notwithstanding such cargo being legal.'
Spain is one of the European countries most critical of Israel's offensive in Gaza.
SeaNews Turkey
The US-flagged 6,188-TEU Maersk Denver diverted first to Tangier and according to VesselFinder, is now en route to Oman.
A Maersk container ship had been denied entry to the Spanish port of Algeciras, the Danish shipping company said, denying that the vessel is transporting arms to Israel.
'The cargo to be transshipped through the port does not include any military weapons or ammunition,' Maersk said.
Spanish daily El Pais earlier this week had cited Spanish government officials saying that the ship, as well as another also belonging to Maersk and due to dock later in November, 'will not stop in Spain' because its cargo includes weapons being delivered to Israel.
'To gain clarity for future operations, we have consulted the Spanish authorities to understand why entry was denied for cargo no different than previous shipments that have routinely been transshipped through this port without incident,' Maersk said.
'It is our understanding that spain has in its discretion changed its criteria and is now rejecting vessels that carry anything military related going to, or from, Israel, notwithstanding such cargo being legal.'
Spain is one of the European countries most critical of Israel's offensive in Gaza.
SeaNews Turkey
