Concerns have been raised over a ship which is due to dock in Larnaca on Sunday, with it having been alleged that among the ship’s cargo is raw material which is to be used by Israel to construct deadly explosives to be used against Palestinians.

The Palestinian-led boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) movement alleged that the ship, the HC Opal, which sails under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, is carrying “at least 23 containers of military material destined for use by Israel in its genocide against Palestinians”.

The group’s military embargo campaign coordinator Dr Shir Hever said that the ship’s entire cargo consists of material which can be used to make weaponry.

“All of this cargo is in fact raw material for making artillery shells and air-to-surface bombs. A single MK84 bomb can level a whole residential building, killing entire Palestinian families,” he said.

He added, “after Israel quickly ran out of ammunition, and as it is facing a growing military embargo, the Israeli government ordered Israel’s arms companies to establish domestic production lines for shells and bombs”, and that “for this purpose, they need the raw materials which are brought by the HC Opal”.

The BDS movement said that the HC Opal’s cargo was loaded in the Indian city of Chennai, and also pointed out that the ship is owned by a German company, International Maritime Management, insured by Norwegian firm Gard, and managed by the Danish service provider Ocean 7 Project.

As such, it called on “all states involved”, Antigua and Barbuda, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, India and Norway, to “take action now”.

It instructed those states to “verify the HC Opal’s cargo and halt any illegal transfer of the military supplies destined for use in Israel’s genocidal violence”.

“If states fail to implement these measures, they themselves should be held accountable for violating international law,” it added.

It went on to say that “transfers of military material to Israel while it commits plausibly genocide, perpetrates apartheid, and continues its illegal occupation are prohibited”.

As of Friday morning, the ship is located south of Crete.

The Cyprus Mail attempted to contact the Cyprus government to clarify what its rights, responsibilities, and intentions may be regarding the ship upon its planned arrival in Larnaca, but received no response.