Two vessels are arriving New Zealand with phosphates from occupied Western Sahara first week of December.
Update: ....and here is one for Christmas.
Update: ....and here is one for Christmas.
2 vessels are now entering New Zealand waters with phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara, a trade which is violation of international law.
White Diamond (IMO number 9330666)
Arrives port of Tauranga on tbhe 2nd of December, departing on 5th, towards Timaru, where she will arrive on the 6th, before continuing towards her final destination, Bluff, on the 7th. White Diamond is managed by the Israeli 'Ofer Ships Holdings', in Haifa.
Triton Stork (IMO number 9328675)
Will arrive port of Lyttleton on 3rd of December, continuing towards Napier on the 4th.
The Panama flagged Triton Stork is arriving Lyttleton for the second time this year with phosphates from Western Sahara. She arrived on 31st of January 2008 to the same harbour, with the same cargo. She did also a shipment of such phosphates to Fremantle, Perth, Australia, arriving approximately 21st of August 2005. The vessel is supposedly owned by Triton Nav BV (Netherlands).
These are the clients of Morocco’s phosphate plunder
For the eleventh year in a row, Western Sahara Resource Watch publishes a detailed, annual overview of the companies involved in the purchase of conflict phosphates from occupied Western Sahara.
Protest in New Zealand against conflict mineral imports
From the end of this year, 2 of 3 global importers of Western Sahara's controversial conflict minerals are from New Zealand. This week, locals protested in the city of Dunedin.
The New Zealand phosphate controversy
The two New Zealand companies Ravensdown and Ballance Agri-Nutrients, now the only two clients of phosphate rock from occupied Western Sahara in the world, are defending their purchases on social media. Here is what is wrong with what they claim.
NZ fertiliser importers defend their imports
The New Zealand Fertiliser Association, representing the controversial importing companies in New Zealand is quoted by national TV that they are "aware of what's happening in Western Sahara but that's no reason not to use phosphate rock from the area".