>The Swedish Dockworkers’ Union decided on Thursday morning to go on a blockade against ships to and from Russia, Russian cargo and Russian-owned vessels. Erik Helgeson, vice president of the union:
>We will now not deal with the ships in any way. We will not unload or load them, we will not moor them, we will not tow them, and we will not do any pre- or post-work, provided that life and health are not at stake.
>The immediate consequence should hopefully be that those in our industry who are contemplating resuming or expanding business with Russia during the current invasion will cover their ears, because it will be practically difficult for them to do so. Dockworkers are now no longer required to work on this type of vessel. We have members from Ukraine and others who are concerned. It is a protection for employees to be able to make a sensible moral decision without having to suffer personal consequences,” says Erik Helgeson.
>The Port Workers’ Union is now calling on the government to close Swedish ports to vessels bound for or from Russia, and vessels owned or controlled by persons linked to Russia, and eventually to Russian cargo as well. Erik Helgeson describes how members feel bad about having to handle Russian ships, and unload Russian oil, knowing what that leads to.
>I think it is absolutely disgusting under the current circumstances to allow Russian ships in Swedish ports. When you bomb civilian residential areas in Ukraine, it becomes a trade-off between our petrol and energy prices and their lives, and it feels extremely gutless to do nothing and do business as usual,” says Helgeson and continues:
>I guess that’s part of the Russian plan, that European countries like Sweden should be too comfortable to implement harsh sanctions. And it would be a damned shame if they got that right.
>The industry association Transportföretagen believes that all restrictions should be EU-wide.
>”We have seen that some member states have gone ahead and are already stopping Russian ships in their ports and we urge the government to make a decision for Sweden’s handling as a matter of urgency,” the organisation writes in an email.
>We want to see clearer decisions from the government on how Russian-controlled ships should be handled in Swedish ports and this is urgent, says Marcus Dahlsten, CEO, Swedish Ports.
>Over the weekend, a 180-metre vessel from St Petersburg in Russia arrived in the port of Gävle. The tanker has the capacity to carry almost 50 000 tonnes of oil and according to SVT the tanker was full of aviation fuel.
>The ship’s flag is Liberian and the owner is a shipping company in Dubai. That company is in turn owned by Sovcomflot, a shipping group controlled by the Russian state and on the EU’s sanctions list.
>Fredrik Svanbom, CEO of the Port of Gävle:
>The ship was loaded with fuel, a petroleum product. We had to make inquiries to trace the owner. We landed in a Russian shipping company at the top of the ownership, Sovcomflot. But there was no legal way for us to prevent the ship from entering the port.
>The UK has already put a stop to Russian ships. The best thing would have been for Sweden and the EU to do the same, according to Svanbom.
>Then we wouldn’t have to do the hard work of analysing, looking and tracing the ownership structure. And the ethical dilemma of dealing with a Russian ship. This is strongly linked within the EU to dependence on Russian oil and gas. Otherwise, it would have been a fairly simple decision to ban Russian ships from Swedish ports.
>DN has previously described that Sweden continues to import Russian fossil fuel. Much of the petrol and diesel sold in Sweden is of unknown origin and the buyers of the fuel in the Russian ships that arrive are not public.
>On 3 March, the Port Workers’ Union sent a letter to Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth (S). Several Swedish ports have received Russian ships since the war began and further calls are planned, the union says.
>The union described in the letter that it had contacted trade unions in Ukraine and discussed Swedish sympathy measures.
>”We will be supportive of a Ukrainian request for sympathetic action directed against Russian interests here, in a situation where the lives of our colleagues, Ukrainian maritime trade and hundreds of thousands of jobs are threatened with closure as a result of the Putin regime’s use of force,” the letter states.
>Tommy Wreeth, president of the Transport Workers’ Union, says his members are also upset.
>There is a resolution at EU level to stop receiving Russian ships and there are other countries that have already done so. We are in agreement with our counterpart in the Swedish ports. We simply want them to stop handling Russian and Russian-controlled ships and the state needs to step in and say: this is what applies.
>Several people DN speaks to also raise the security aspect – that in a situation where Russia has declared threats against Sweden, welcoming large Russian-controlled ships.
>Who knows what is on board, apart from what is to be unloaded? Will there be a mini-submarine under the tanker? And trucks from Russia are still arriving by land, so there too a discussion is needed from several aspects,” says Tommy Wreeth.
Until a few days ago, a monument in the port of Karlshamn was a thank-you gift from Nord Stream 2 for its participation in a project to transport large pipes, which ended in 2020. Now the monument is hidden away. The port’s CEO Mats Olsson writes in an email:
>”The pipe monument was the customer’s way of showing appreciation for the logistics service we had performed. A reaction that made us proud. It was immediately removed when the invasion of Ukraine began and the symbolic value radically changed. Drivers and refugees from Ukraine now arrive daily. They should not have to see that monument here.”
>According to DN, a ship carrying Russian oil was on its way to the port of Gothenburg for bunkering on Tuesday. After the media started asking questions, the tanker changed destination to Amsterdam.
>Magnus Andersson, a lawyer and sanctions expert at Kommerskollegium, the Swedish Foreign Trade Authority, would not answer whether it is in compliance with the sanctions to allow ships whose owners are on the sanctions list to anchor and deliver oil.
>”It is up to each individual company to judge for itself when doing business with a company that it suspects is subject to a freeze.”
>Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth (S) comments in an email to DN:
>”At present, the EU sanctions do not cover general shipping or Russian oil and gas. The issue of closing the ports is handled at EU level, as it is more effective than the issue being decided at national level. More sanctions are currently being discussed in the EU, and from the Swedish side we are not ruling out further action. We are prepared to look at all the measures needed to stop Russia’s invasion.”
>In 2017, DN was able to reveal information that the Russian state was interested in buying the operation of the port of Gävle. The container terminal is now owned by a Turkish company, and the sale took place without security checks.
>Is this something that has been up for discussion in connection with the new security situation?
>No, not really, says Fredrik Svanbom, CEO of the Port of Gävle.
3 comments
>The Swedish Dockworkers’ Union decided on Thursday morning to go on a blockade against ships to and from Russia, Russian cargo and Russian-owned vessels. Erik Helgeson, vice president of the union:
>We will now not deal with the ships in any way. We will not unload or load them, we will not moor them, we will not tow them, and we will not do any pre- or post-work, provided that life and health are not at stake.
>The immediate consequence should hopefully be that those in our industry who are contemplating resuming or expanding business with Russia during the current invasion will cover their ears, because it will be practically difficult for them to do so. Dockworkers are now no longer required to work on this type of vessel. We have members from Ukraine and others who are concerned. It is a protection for employees to be able to make a sensible moral decision without having to suffer personal consequences,” says Erik Helgeson.
>The Port Workers’ Union is now calling on the government to close Swedish ports to vessels bound for or from Russia, and vessels owned or controlled by persons linked to Russia, and eventually to Russian cargo as well. Erik Helgeson describes how members feel bad about having to handle Russian ships, and unload Russian oil, knowing what that leads to.
>I think it is absolutely disgusting under the current circumstances to allow Russian ships in Swedish ports. When you bomb civilian residential areas in Ukraine, it becomes a trade-off between our petrol and energy prices and their lives, and it feels extremely gutless to do nothing and do business as usual,” says Helgeson and continues:
>I guess that’s part of the Russian plan, that European countries like Sweden should be too comfortable to implement harsh sanctions. And it would be a damned shame if they got that right.
>The industry association Transportföretagen believes that all restrictions should be EU-wide.
>”We have seen that some member states have gone ahead and are already stopping Russian ships in their ports and we urge the government to make a decision for Sweden’s handling as a matter of urgency,” the organisation writes in an email.
>We want to see clearer decisions from the government on how Russian-controlled ships should be handled in Swedish ports and this is urgent, says Marcus Dahlsten, CEO, Swedish Ports.
>Over the weekend, a 180-metre vessel from St Petersburg in Russia arrived in the port of Gävle. The tanker has the capacity to carry almost 50 000 tonnes of oil and according to SVT the tanker was full of aviation fuel.
>The ship’s flag is Liberian and the owner is a shipping company in Dubai. That company is in turn owned by Sovcomflot, a shipping group controlled by the Russian state and on the EU’s sanctions list.
>Fredrik Svanbom, CEO of the Port of Gävle:
>The ship was loaded with fuel, a petroleum product. We had to make inquiries to trace the owner. We landed in a Russian shipping company at the top of the ownership, Sovcomflot. But there was no legal way for us to prevent the ship from entering the port.
>The UK has already put a stop to Russian ships. The best thing would have been for Sweden and the EU to do the same, according to Svanbom.
>Then we wouldn’t have to do the hard work of analysing, looking and tracing the ownership structure. And the ethical dilemma of dealing with a Russian ship. This is strongly linked within the EU to dependence on Russian oil and gas. Otherwise, it would have been a fairly simple decision to ban Russian ships from Swedish ports.
>DN has previously described that Sweden continues to import Russian fossil fuel. Much of the petrol and diesel sold in Sweden is of unknown origin and the buyers of the fuel in the Russian ships that arrive are not public.
>On 3 March, the Port Workers’ Union sent a letter to Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth (S). Several Swedish ports have received Russian ships since the war began and further calls are planned, the union says.
>The union described in the letter that it had contacted trade unions in Ukraine and discussed Swedish sympathy measures.
>”We will be supportive of a Ukrainian request for sympathetic action directed against Russian interests here, in a situation where the lives of our colleagues, Ukrainian maritime trade and hundreds of thousands of jobs are threatened with closure as a result of the Putin regime’s use of force,” the letter states.
>Tommy Wreeth, president of the Transport Workers’ Union, says his members are also upset.
>There is a resolution at EU level to stop receiving Russian ships and there are other countries that have already done so. We are in agreement with our counterpart in the Swedish ports. We simply want them to stop handling Russian and Russian-controlled ships and the state needs to step in and say: this is what applies.
>Several people DN speaks to also raise the security aspect – that in a situation where Russia has declared threats against Sweden, welcoming large Russian-controlled ships.
>Who knows what is on board, apart from what is to be unloaded? Will there be a mini-submarine under the tanker? And trucks from Russia are still arriving by land, so there too a discussion is needed from several aspects,” says Tommy Wreeth.
Until a few days ago, a monument in the port of Karlshamn was a thank-you gift from Nord Stream 2 for its participation in a project to transport large pipes, which ended in 2020. Now the monument is hidden away. The port’s CEO Mats Olsson writes in an email:
>”The pipe monument was the customer’s way of showing appreciation for the logistics service we had performed. A reaction that made us proud. It was immediately removed when the invasion of Ukraine began and the symbolic value radically changed. Drivers and refugees from Ukraine now arrive daily. They should not have to see that monument here.”
>According to DN, a ship carrying Russian oil was on its way to the port of Gothenburg for bunkering on Tuesday. After the media started asking questions, the tanker changed destination to Amsterdam.
>Magnus Andersson, a lawyer and sanctions expert at Kommerskollegium, the Swedish Foreign Trade Authority, would not answer whether it is in compliance with the sanctions to allow ships whose owners are on the sanctions list to anchor and deliver oil.
>”It is up to each individual company to judge for itself when doing business with a company that it suspects is subject to a freeze.”
>Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth (S) comments in an email to DN:
>”At present, the EU sanctions do not cover general shipping or Russian oil and gas. The issue of closing the ports is handled at EU level, as it is more effective than the issue being decided at national level. More sanctions are currently being discussed in the EU, and from the Swedish side we are not ruling out further action. We are prepared to look at all the measures needed to stop Russia’s invasion.”
>In 2017, DN was able to reveal information that the Russian state was interested in buying the operation of the port of Gävle. The container terminal is now owned by a Turkish company, and the sale took place without security checks.
>Is this something that has been up for discussion in connection with the new security situation?
>No, not really, says Fredrik Svanbom, CEO of the Port of Gävle.
Article was translated with DeepL.
The balls of this people
Pool’s closed due to AIDS
(Anarchosyndicalist Independently Delivered Sanctions)