MV Rachel Corrie | |
History | |
---|---|
Name |
|
Namesake | Rachel Corrie |
Owner |
|
Operator |
|
Port of registry | |
Builder | J J Sietas, Hamburg |
Yard number | 625 |
Completed | May 1967 |
Homeport | Dundalk (since 2010) |
Identification |
|
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Coaster |
Tonnage | |
Length | 68.43 m (224 ft 6 in) |
Beam | 10.52 m (34 ft 6 in) |
Depth | 6.25 m (20 ft 6 in) |
Installed power | Deutz diesel engine |
Propulsion | Screw propellor |
Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h) |
Blockade of the Gaza Strip |
---|
Crossings |
2004 |
Philadelphi Accord |
2006 |
Economic sanctions |
2007 |
Fatah–Hamas battle |
2008 |
2009 |
Viva Palestina "Lifeline 3" |
2010 |
Other convoys |
2011 |
2015 |
Freedom Flotilla III |
2016 |
Women's Boat to Gaza |
MV Rachel Corrie is a 499 GT coaster owned and operated by the Free Gaza Movement. [1] The ship is named in honour of Rachel Corrie, a deceased member of the International Solidarity Movement. Built by J.J. Sietas in Hamburg in 1967, she was originally named Carsten; she has also carried the names Norasia Attika, Manya and Linda.
In June 2010 the vessel was intercepted by Israeli Defence Forces while attempting to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and to deliver humanitarian aid. [2]
The ship was built as yard number 625 by J J Sietas, Germany. Completed in May 1967, she is 68.43 metres (224 ft 6 in) long, with a beam of 10.52 metres (34 ft 6 in) and a depth of 6.25 metres (20 ft 6 in). The ship is powered by a Deutz diesel engine which can propel her at 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h). [3]
Originally named Carsten, she was sold in 1993 to P Buck, Antigua and renamed Norasia Attika. She was sold on 8 December that year to Ariadna Shipping Ltd, St Vincent. On 1 February 1994 she was placed under the management of H Möller KG, Germany. She was renamed Manya on 24 November 2000. On 23 February 2004 she was sold to Hanza Bunkering Ltd. She was renamed Linda on 24 November 2003. On 30 August 2005 she was sold to Lackner Ventures Ltd. On 28 November 2005, she was placed under the management of Eestinova. [3]
Linda was used by Guinness for exporting beer before being converted for use as a freighter. [4] Her port of registry was Phnom Penh. [5] The IMO Number 6715281 and MMSI Number 515886000 are allocated. Rachel Corrie uses the Callsign XUJW8. [6]
By 2009, the ship had been bringing timber into Dundalk, Ireland from the Baltic for the previous 10 years. [7] At the end of July that year, the Cambodian-registered vessel and its crew were abandoned by its owners, Forestry Shipping, of Riga, a company which has gone out of business. [8] [9] The crew were left with one day's food and were owed arrears of pay that totaled €42,000. With the assistance of the Irish union SIPTU, an affiliate of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), they were repatriated to their home countries in November 2009.
After being seized by the High Court on behalf of the ITF, the ship was sold at auction in Dundalk for €70,000 to the Free Gaza Movement on 30 March 2010. This enabled ITF Inspector Ken Fleming to pay the crew their arrears. It was outfitted at Brown's Quay in Dundalk, Ireland, for use in a voyage to Gaza. While there, a significant amount of navigational equipment worth between €15,000 and €20,000 was stolen from the vessel. [4]
The ship was renamed in honor of Rachel Corrie, an American college student crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to prevent a house demolition in Gaza. [10] The vessel was launched on 12 May 2010 from Dundalk with the full title MV Rachel Corrie. [11] [12]
MV Rachel Corrie had intended to sail with the six ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, but was unable to join the other ships because of mechanical problems that forced it to undergo repairs in Malta, [13] possibly resulting from Israeli sabotage. [14] The other six ships were confronted by a raid on 30 May 2010. In the violent clashes that followed, nine Turkish activists were killed and several dozen activists and ten IDF soldiers were injured. [15]
The ship got underway on 31 May 2010, with her crew insisting that they would go to Gaza. [13] Despite repeated requests by the Irish Government and others to let the ship through to Gaza, Israeli commandos boarded the ship from speed boats at around noon on 5 June 2010, in international waters about 30 kilometres (16 nmi) from Gaza, seized control, and took ship and passengers to Israel. [16]
Rachel Aliene Corrie was an American activist and diarist. A member of the pro-Palestinian group International Solidarity Movement (ISM), she was crushed to death by an armored bulldozer of the Israel Defense Forces in a southern Gaza Strip combat zone during the height of the Second Intifada under contested circumstances.
Mairead Maguire, also known as Mairead Corrigan Maguire and formerly as Mairéad Corrigan, is a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She co-founded, with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown, the Women for Peace, which later became the Community for Peace People, an organization dedicated to encouraging a peaceful resolution of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Maguire and Williams were awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Karine A affair, also known as Operation "Noah's Ark", was an Israeli military action in January 2002 in which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) forces seized MV Karine A, which, according to the IDF, was a Palestinian freighter in the Red Sea. The vessel was found to be carrying 50 tons of weapons, including short-range Katyusha rockets, antitank missiles, and high explosives.
Shayetet 13 is a unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary sayeret (reconnaissance) units of the Israel Defense Forces. Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and boarding. The unit is trained for sea, air and land actions. The unit has taken part in almost all of Israel's major wars, as well as other actions.
MS C.T.M.A. Vacancier is a car/passenger ferry operated by Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien (CTMA) on their Montreal–Cap-aux-Meules service. She was built in 1973 by the J.J. Sietas Schiffswerft in Hamburg, West Germany as Aurella for SF Line for use on Viking Line traffic. Between 1982 and 1998 she sailed as Saint Patrick II, between 1998 and 2000 as Egnatia II, in 2000 as Ville de Séte and between 2001 and 2002 as City of Cork, before being sold to her current owners.
The Free Gaza Movement (FGM) is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and publicise the situation of the Palestinians there. FGM has challenged the Israeli–Egyptian blockade by sailing humanitarian aid ships to Gaza. The group has more than 70 endorsers, including Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky.
SV Estelle is a fair trade cargo Bermuda schooner, currently the biggest sail ship in Finnish register. She was built in Emden, Germany in 1922 as a 42-meter, steel-hulled ship for trawl-fishing in the Baltic Sea. Estelle's hometown is Turku. She was long owned by Eestaas and operated by Uusi Tuuli. Now she belongs to a "Ship to Gaza" company Northern Breeze AB, registered in Turku, Finland.
Dato' Mohd Nizar bin Zakaria is a Malaysian politician. Nizar is the current two-term Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for Parit constituency, having previously held the same office between 2008 and 2013. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six civilian ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine activists were killed during the raid, while ten Israeli soldiers were wounded, one seriously. One further Turkish activist died later of his wounds. Three of the six flotilla ships, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), were carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, intending to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel had warned the flotilla to abort their mission, describing it as a provocation.
Reactions to the Gaza flotilla raid on 31 May 2010 ranged from fierce condemnation to strong support for Israel.
The Cambodian-flagged Irish MV Rachel Corrie was part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla that sailed to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid in 2010. The ship was unable to join the other six ships in the flotilla because of mechanical problems that forced it to undergo repairs in Malta. The other six ships were confronted by a raid on 31 May 2010 during which nine activists were killed by Israeli naval forces.
The Gaza Freedom Flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, with the intention of breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip. In normal circumstances, aid is brought to Israel to be inspected and then transferred to Gaza.
MV Amalthea is a Moldovan-flagged cargo ship owned by A.C.A. Shipping in Greece.
MV Mariam is a Bolivian-flagged passenger ferry with a 228 gross tonnage (GT). Built in 1982 at Westermoen Hydrofoil shipyard, the ship is a catamaran 29.00 metres in length with a capacity of about 200 passengers. Built as Venture 84, the ship was in service with the French ferry operator Emeraude Lines from 1983 to 1996, serving a route between the Channel Islands and France. From 1996 to 2008, the ship was operated by Cypriot ferry operator Fergün Denizcilik as Fergün Express III.
The MV Finch, also known as the Spirit of Rachel Corrie, was a blockade runner staffed by anti-Israel activists from Malaysia, India, Ireland, and Canada attempting to deliver supplies to Gaza in May 2011 ahead of the Freedom Flotilla Two mission in late June.
"Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human" was a flotilla that planned to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel by sailing to Gaza on 5 July 2011. Ultimately, the sailing did not take place.
James Postlethwaite was a schooner, launched in 1881. She operated out of Arklow after 1909. She was in Hamburg on the day that Britain entered the First World War with its declaration of war against Germany. Her crew was imprisoned and she was impounded and used as a barge to carry munitions.
Ship to Gaza is a Swedish organization that aims to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip by delivering humanitarian aid from Scandinavia to Gaza.
MV Star of Malta was a passenger ferry which operated routes from Malta to Sicily in the 1950s and 1960s, notable for its sinking off Malta on 29 July 1955, resulting in the death of one crew member and one passenger. Prior to that, she had a long career under a number of different names.
Media related to MV Rachel Corrie at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 32°49′33″N35°00′11″E / 32.825729°N 35.002985°E