German ship carrying explosives to Israel docks in Egypt's Alexandria

A German-flagged ship carrying explosive materials intended for the Israeli army docked in Egypt’s Alexandria this week and its contents have been unloaded at an Egyptian military pier, after being rejected by several countries, according to open source maritime data and rights groups.

German human rights lawyers on Tuesday said that the MV Kathrin is carrying eight shipping containers holding 150,000kg of RDX explosives for Israeli Military Industries, the munitions production arm of Israel’s largest military company Elbit Systems. 

Portugal's foreign minister in September said he received information from the ship's owner that half of the cargo was dual-use material destined for an Israeli arms company. 

According to ship-tracking website Marine Traffic and financial data firm LSEG Data & Analytics, the MV Kathrin docked in Alexandria port on Monday and was last seen there three days ago. It is set to depart on 5 November. 

The Egyptian army issued a vague statement late on Thursday denying military assistance to Israel, but did not clarify or specifically deny reports that MV Kathrin is docked in Alexandria Port or that its cargo has been unloaded there.

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