There has been a stir around the possible arrival of the ship because of the Russian cargo. FNV previously made an appeal not to unload the Sunny Liger in the port of Rotterdam in order to show solidarity with dock workers in Sweden. The ship was previously unable to land in Sweden. This was not because the Swedish authorities refused the ship, but because the Swedish dock workers resisted docking.
Marshall Islands
Later it turned out that the tanker had turned at sea and was heading in the direction of the Dutch capital. “Currently, the ship is anchored off the coast,” says a spokeswoman for the port authority. She has no information about a possible arrival time. She indicates that the port authority, the terminals in the port and the maritime services will again discuss how to proceed with the Sunny Liger on Saturday afternoon.
Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) also discussed the possible arrival of the ship on Friday. According to him, from a legal point of view, the cabinet can do nothing for the time being to prevent the Sunny Liger from coming this way. The ship is registered in the Marshall Islands and has never sailed under the Russian flag. However, the minister wanted to see with the port “whether a sleeve can be adjusted” so that the ship cannot dock. Hoekstra also called the FNV’s appeal to port personnel not to help with mooring “very good.”
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‘Dirty Russian oil plans’
The Ukrainian embassy in the Netherlands calls on the Dutch government to demand the “immediate departure” of the ship Sunny Liger, which is on its way to the port of Amsterdam with a cargo of gas oil from Russia. “The Netherlands, whose support Ukraine greatly values, should not become a safe haven for dirty Russian oil plans,” the embassy said in a statement.
Ukraine also appeals to the dock workers in Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands: „Follow your Swedish colleagues. Stay away from the Sunny Liger,” it sounds like. “Refuse to unload his cargo. Do not become complicit in immoral trafficking that finances the murders of innocent Ukrainian women and children.”
The Sunny Liger originates from Primorsk, but does not sail under the Russian flag. As a result, there are no sanctions against the ship. The cargo was actually destined for Sweden. But dock workers there already refused to unload the ship. The Sunny Liger then sailed on in the direction of Rotterdam. But the trade union FNV did not stop there and called on Dutch dock workers to show solidarity with their Swedish colleagues.
The Sunny Liger is currently anchored off the coast and intends to enter the port of Amsterdam. But according to the Port of Amsterdam, services such as pilots and tugs do not yet want to escort the ship into the port due to safety concerns. The municipality of Amsterdam has already indicated that it finds it undesirable if the Sunny Liger were to unload in the Amsterdam port, but according to a spokesperson, consultations are still underway with the parties involved on how to proceed.