- In Genoa, the Bahri Yambu freighter transporting weapons to Saudi Arabia: unions and dockers protest
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20 May 2019The 'war on war' of Genoese camals, pacifist associations and anti-fascist Genoa begins just before dawn on the dock of the GMT terminal of the port of Genoa, where at 6 am the cargo ship Bahri Yanbu flies the flag of Arabia Arabia. A ship loaded with weapons that had been prevented from docking in Le Havre to load eight French-made Caesar self-propelled cannons ordered by the Saudis and which could be used in the war in Yemen. In Genoa he had to upload "non-war materials".The autonomous collective port workers (Calp) had reached the terminal and blocked the entrance of the mooring of the port with the banner 'Stop arms trafficking, war on war', but the mooring workers were made to pass by sea and the ship she managed to get to the dock. Also garrison of the Filt Cgil. "We want to report to national public opinion and not only that, as other dockers in Europe have already done, we will not become accomplices of what is happening in Yemen", the secretaries Filt Enrico Ascheri and Enrico Poggi wrote in a statement.
The reason for the dispute is two large electric generators supplied by the Rome-based firm specializing in the design, assembly, integration and testing of military systems and solutions, Defense Teknel. The company mainly deals with military equipment and those generators could be part of the command and control protection and tactical communication systems. So, 'War to War' and the two big electric generators were blocked together with all the other goods on the dock (including some heavy vehicles and large steel pipes) pending the results of a summit requested and obtained by the unions in prefecture. The prefect Fiamma Spena chaired the meeting, who spoke at length with all the interlocutors: Filt Cgil, Camera del Lavoro, terminal operators and Port Authority. The meeting led to a decision: the two generators remain in port in Genoa, in a controlled area of the 'various goods' warehouse where they will be inspected. Then, perhaps, they will be brought to La Spezia by land where they could always be embarked if the ship docks at a 'protected' quay like that of the military Arsenal. If it were to dock in a 'public' dock, the horses will cross their arms again: Filt and CGIL have promoted a regional strike in the evening in case the Bahri Yanbu decides to enter another port to take away the generators.
However, leaving those two generators on the ground was the solution that allowed the block to be dissolved and the clearly non-war material loading operations to begin. For the president of Federlogistica Luigi Merlo "the decision of the Genoese camalli must be respected because it is part of their history and identity and is also a sign of civilization" while for the governor Giovanni Toti "all this damages the competitiveness of our airport, does not help the job Italian, does not help our growth ", while the group leader of the M5s in the Foreign Affairs Commission of Palazzo Madama Gianluca Ferrara asks that the ship" leave Italy ".