A ship operated by ZIM Line has been held up by pro-Palestine unionists in Australia’s Melbourne port for five days now.

The newly built 5,504 TEU ZIM Ganges arrived in Melbourne on 19 January on its maiden voyage from Busan, South Korea.

However, the Trade Unionists for Palestine, along with protesters from Free Palestine Melbourne and Disrupt Wars, have been preventing the ship from docking at Victoria International Terminal.

In a Facebook post, Trade Unionists for Palestine wrote: “For the last four days, unionists, activists and community members maintained a picket at Web Dock Victoria International Terminal at Port Melbourne, in direct protest of the Israeli shipping company ZIM, stopping all work on the ZIM Ganges. Thank you to everyone who took part in this action including community members Free Palestine Melbourne, Block the Dock, The Sit Intifada, Black Peoples Union, Disrupt Wars, WACA, and many other autonomous community groups.

“We condemn the police violence today and throughout the last four days including the use of pepper spray on people not posing a threat, crowd control that escalated the risk of harm, and excessive use of force.”

The group said that dock workers were suspended without pay for refusing to work in unsafe conditions.

The pro-Palestine unionists continued: “The community has donated generously to cover the pay their bosses have docked from them. We thank them for their solidarity.

The Zim ship Ganges is still out to anchor three days after it was set to dock. Zim ships are not welcome in our ports! (sic)”

ZIM Ganges was one of six sister vessels that German tonnage provider MPC Container Ships commissioned at HJ Shipbuilding & Construction in 2021, all for seven-year charter to ZIM.

ZIM has not responded to Container News’ request for comment.

The unionists have also started a petition calling for ZIM ships to be banned from Australia, an action mirroring Malaysia’s ban in December.

The impact of the Gaza War has transcended Israel and Palestine, with Chinese operators Cosco and OOCL suspending calls to Israel, while Iran-backed Houthi militants have been attacking Israel-bound or Israeli-owned ships in the Red Sea.

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