MV Rachel Corrie |
|
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Carsten (1967–93) Norasia Attika (1993–2000) Manya (2000–03) Linda (2003–2010) Rachel Corrie (from 2010) |
| Namesake: | Rachel Corrie |
| Owner: | P Buck (1993–94) Ariadna Shipping Ltd (1994–2003) LSA Hansa Bunkering Ltd (2003–05) Lackner Ventures Ltd (2005–10) Free Gaza Movement (from 2010) |
| Operator: | H Moller (1994–2004) Hanza Bunkering Ltd (2004–05) Forestry Shipping Ltd (2005) Eestinva (2005–10) Free Gaza Movement (from 2010) |
| Port of registry: | Antigua (1993–2000) Kingstown (2000–03) Latvia (2003–05) Phnom Penh (since 2005) |
| Builder: | J J Sietas, Hamburg |
| Yard number: | 625 |
| Completed: | May 1967 |
| Homeport: | Dundalk, (since 2010) |
| Identification: | IMO Number 6715281 MMSI Number 515886000 Callsign XUJW8 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Coaster |
| Tonnage: | 499 GT 479 NRT 1,205 DWT |
| Length: | 68.43 m (224 ft 6 in) |
| Beam: | 10.52 m (34 ft 6 in) |
| Depth: | 6.25 m (20 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power: | Deutz diesel engine |
| Propulsion: | Screw propellor |
| Speed: | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h) |
| General | Barrier • Crossings: Erez, Karni, Rafah • Tunnels • Goods affected • Israeli-Palestinian conflict |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Second Intifada |
| 2006 | Economic sanctions |
| 2007 | Battle of Gaza |
| 2008 | Breach of the Gaza–Egypt border • Gaza War |
| 2009 | Viva Palestina: "Lifeline to Gaza" • "Lifeline 3" |
| 2010 | Gaza flotilla raid (flotilla; ships: Mavi Marmara, Rachel Corrie; participants, reactions, legal, Turkel Commission (Israel), Gaza journey of MV Rachel Corrie) • Jewish Boat to Gaza • Viva Palestina "Lifeline 5" • Road to Hope |
| 2011 | Freedom Flotilla II (participants) |
MV Rachel Corrie is a 499 GT coaster owned and operated by the Free Gaza Movement.[1] The ship is named in honour of Rachel Corrie, a former member of the International Solidarity Movement. It was originally called Carsten, it has also carried the names Norasia Attika, Manya and more recently Linda.
In June 2010 the vessel was intercepted by Israeli Defence Forces while attempting to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and to deliver humanitarian aid.[2]
Contents |
The ship was built as yard number 625 by J J Sietas, Germany. She was completed in May 1967. She is 68.43 metres (224 ft 6 in) long, with a beam of 10.52 metres (34 ft 6 in) and a depth of 6.25 metres (20 ft 6 in). The ship is powered by a Deutz diesel engine which can propel her at 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h).[3]
Originally named Carsten, she was sold in 1993 to P Buck, Antigua and renamed Norasia Attika. She was sold on 8 December that year to Ariadna Shipping Ltd, St Vincent. On 1 February 1994 she was placed under the management of H Möller KG, Germany. She was renamed Manya on 24 November 2000. On 23 February 2004 she was sold to Hanza Bunkering Ltd. She was renamed Linda on 24 November 2003. On 30 August 2005 she was sold to Lackner Ventures Ltd. On 28 November 2005, she was placed under the management of Eestinova.[3]
Linda was used by Guinness for exporting beer before being converted for use as a freighter.[4] Her port of registry was Phnom Penh.[5] The IMO Number 6715281 and MMSI Number 515886000 are allocated. Rachel Corrie uses the Callsign XUJW8.[6]
By 2009, the ship had been bringing timber into Dundalk from the Baltic for the previous 10 years.[7] At the end of July that year, the Cambodian-registered vessel and its crew were abandoned by its owners, Forestry Shipping, of Riga, a company which has gone out of business.[8][9] The crew were left with one day's food and were owed arrears of pay that totaled €42,000. With the assistance of the Irish union SIPTU, an affiliate of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), they were repatriated to their home countries in November 2009.
After being seized by the High Court on behalf of the ITF, the ship was sold at auction in Dundalk for €70,000 to the Free Gaza Movement on 30 March 2010. This enabled ITF Inspector Ken Fleming to pay the crew their arrears. It was outfitted at Brown's Quay in Dundalk, Ireland, for use in a voyage to Gaza. While there, a significant amount of navigational equipment worth between €15,000 and €20,000 was stolen from the vessel.[4]
The ship was renamed in honor of Rachel Corrie, an American college student crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to prevent a house demolition in Gaza.[10] The vessel was launched on 12 May 2010 from Dundalk with the full title MV Rachel Corrie.[11][12]
MV Rachel Corrie had intended to sail with the six ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, but was unable to join the other six ships because of mechanical problems that forced it to undergo repairs in Malta.[13] The other six ships were confronted by a raid on 30 May 2010. In the violent clashes that followed, nine activists were killed and several dozen activists and ten IDF soldiers were injured.[14]
The ship got underway on 31 May 2010, with its crew insisting that they would go to Gaza.[13] Despite repeated requests by the Irish Government and others to let the ship through to Gaza, Israeli commandos boarded the ship from speed boats at around noon on 5 June 2010, in international waters about 30 kilometres (16 nmi) from Gaza, seized control, and took ship and passengers to Israel.[15]
| General | Barrier • Crossings: Erez, Karni, Rafah • Tunnels • Goods affected • Israeli-Palestinian conflict |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Second Intifada |
| 2006 | Economic sanctions |
| 2007 | Battle of Gaza |
| 2008 | Breach of the Gaza–Egypt border • Gaza War |
| 2009 | Viva Palestina: "Lifeline to Gaza" • "Lifeline 3" |
| 2010 | Gaza flotilla raid (flotilla; ships: Mavi Marmara, Rachel Corrie; participants, reactions, legal, Turkel Commission (Israel), Gaza journey of MV Rachel Corrie) • Jewish Boat to Gaza • Viva Palestina "Lifeline 5" • Road to Hope |
| 2011 | Freedom Flotilla II (participants) |
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:MV_Rachel_Corrie MV Rachel Corrie] at Wikimedia Commons