Spain denies docking nod to ship with explosives headed to Israel from India

“This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The foreign ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace,” he said.

Albares did not provide details about the ship but Spain’s Transport Minister, Óscar Puente, said it was Marianne Danica that had requested permission to dock at the south-eastern port of Cartagena on May 21.

Spain’s El País newspaper said the Danish-flagged ship was carrying 27 tonnes of explosive material from Chennai in India to the port of Haifa in Israel.

Spain has been one of Europe’s most critical voices about Israel’s Gaza offensive and is working to rally other European capitals behind the idea of recognising a Palestinian state.

Spain halted arms sales to Israel after the latter launched a military campaign against the Hamas militant group in the heavily populated Gaza Strip.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that they have seen some reports on the ship but are still ascertaining the details.