Two ships carrying tonnes of explosives, artillery systems and missiles for the Israel Defense Forces are to dock in EU ports this month on their way to Israel.
The vessels recently left the US and India and are scheduled to arrive in Cyprus and Malta this July.
The weapons replenishments come as the UN Human Rights Office warned last week that civilians in Gaza now “have a choice between being shot or being fed”.
New howitzer artillery systems expected in Cyprus
The Ocean Grand vessel left a United States port last month and is expected to dock in Limassol, Cyprus, in the coming days before making its way to Ashdod in Israel.
It’s carrying a massive shipment of key munitions for Israeli forces, according to shipping records obtained and verified by The Ditch.
Among the load are four brand-new ROEM 155 mm howitzer artillery systems.
The weapons system has been described as “futuristic artillery that is supposed to help transform the Israel Defense Forces into a superior fighting machine”.
Other munitions onboard include 10.4 tonnes of nitrocellulose – an explosive used as a propellant in firearms – for delivery to IMI Systems (Israel Military Industries.) Earlier this year The Ditch and Intercept reported details of a previous shipment of the same explosive.
The cargo ship, currently sailing through the Mediterranean Sea, is also carrying more than six tonnes of gun barrel forgings, manufactured at Ellwood National Forge in Pennsylvania, for IMI Systems.
Though the Ocean Grand is to arrive in Limassol later this week, there is a suspicion it may travel to Ashdod before Cyprus.
The Ditch tracked the same ship carrying a ROEM artillery unit to Israel in April this year. It couldn’t be located on ship tracking websites for several days, but eventually turned up at Limassol, having already delivered the weapons unit undetected to Ashdod port in Israel.
Missiles from India to dock in Malta
Another vessel, the Eendracht, is making its way around western Africa with more than 75 tonnes of missile bodies and six tonnes of Hexachloroethane sent from India to IMI Systems in Ramat Hasharon.
IMI Systems uses Hexachloroethane in the production of 155 mm artillery gun projectiles for the Israel Defense Forces.
The Eendracht is scheduled to dock at Valetta, Malta, later this month before arriving in Haifa, Israel.
