The Ditch can exclusively report the largest shipment of munitions to Israel since October 2023 will pass through Spanish territory later today.
Included in the 1,605-tonne shipment are bomb shells, ammunition and military-grade chemicals to Israel on Ocean Gladiator set to pass through Spain’s territorial waters
In October The Ditch reported the same ship would transport 563 tonnes of Israel munitions to Israel, which were later allowed transit through Spanish maritime territory.
The largest shipment yet
The Ocean Gladiator left the US on 7 December and is now less than 200 nautical miles from the Strait of Gibraltar, transporting 1,605 tonnes of munitions to IMI Systems in Israel.
The US-flagged ship is carrying 61 containers weighing 1,345 tonnes of bomb shells produced at the Elbit Systems of America factory in Ladson, South Carolina. The recipient is sister company IMI Systems in Ramat Hasharon.
Upstate New York-based Wieland Group – a company that armed the Nazi regime – sent more than 222 tonnes of brass ammunition cartridge cases on the ship to the same Elbit Systems-owned arms factory in Ramat Hasharon, according to shipping records uncovered by The Ditch.
Also onboard the cargo vessel are more than 24 tonnes of M9 ammunition links sent from another New York-based company, International Ordnance Technologies.
The ship is also carrying eight tonnes of military-grade potassium nitrate shipped by Ohio-based Barium & Chemicals Inc and six tonnes of Barium Sulfate sent by Island Pyrochemical Industries Corp.
The Ocean Gladiator is expected to pass through Spanish waters within the next 24 hours.
Though its stated destination is the Greek port of Heraklion, it will likely switch off its identification system somewhere between Malta and Cyprus before heading for its actual final destination, Israel’s Port of Ashdod.
After The Ditch reported in October that the same vessel was transporting munitions of war to Israel, it switched off its identifier off the coast of Crete. It reappeared near Cyprus almost two weeks later after it had delivered its lethal cargo to Israel.
The Ocean Gladiator was allowed dock at the Spanish port of Algeciras on 13 November even though it was en route from Israel to the US to collect weapons likely to be used by Israeli forces to commit genocide in Gaza.
Wieland Group, International Ordnance Technologies, Elbit Systems America, Barium & Chemicals, Island Pyrochemicals and the Spanish authorities have been contacted for comment.
