Genoa's dockworkers say no to weapons; a permanent observatory is coming.

Genoa's dockworkers have long said "no" to weapons in the port, including Leonardo's Oto Melara cannon. They reiterated their decision on Thursday, August 7, after an inspection of the Saudi-owned vessel Bahri Yanbu. The vessel contained weapons, ammunition, explosives, several armored vehicles, and tanks from the United States, specifically from a military facility in Alabama.

This was confirmed by some of the workers who boarded the ship to inspect the cargo . Several photos were taken, but the Italian Special Operations Unit (DIGOS) intervened to have the material deleted. However, some of it has already been released, and the reported items can be seen. The Autonomous Port Workers' Collective (Collettivo Autonomo Lavoratori Portuali), through its social media channel, announced that "words are no longer enough" and that, if they wanted to anger them, they succeeded. The blockade of the loading of war material continues, and a new protest has been organized at Ponte Etiopia on the morning of Friday, August 8th.

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No to weapons in the port of Genoa: dock workers blockade

The Bahri Yanbu was expected on Thursday, August 7th, arriving from Dundalk. This is a port often associated with arms exports, as Il Fatto Quotidian reports, and for this reason, the situation was immediately at its height, with a guard stationed outside the terminal gates and another in front of the port authority.

The Bahri Yanbu cargo ship was not only arriving in Genoa with war material , but was also supposed to load new equipment produced by Leonardo . According to the Unione Sindacale di Base and the Autonomous Collective of Port Workers, it was an Oto Melara cannon produced in La Spezia and destined for a Fincantieri shipyard in the United Arab Emirates.

The unions are also supported by the agreements reached in 2019, when confirmation was obtained that no more weapons would be shipped from Genoa (as required by law, to countries at war). Luca Franza , coordinator of the Fit-CGIL delegates at Compagnia Unica, recalls this, noting that it is impossible to know where the weapons shipment will actually end up. He thus recalls the 2019 mobilization, when dockworkers and unions managed to block a shipment of weapons destined for a ship belonging to the same Saudi company.

Suspicion turned to confirmation within hours. The protest proved the dockworkers right, once again. Some of them boarded the cargo ship and photographed an impressive quantity of war material of all kinds. Almost all of the footage and images were deleted at the request of the DIGOS (Italian Special Operations Unit), which intervened on the cargo ship. This action, however, sparked a strong reaction from the workers of the Autonomous Port Workers' Collective .

Hence the strong message on social media and the call for a new demonstration at Ponte Etiopia on Friday, August 8th, at 8:00 a.m. The message, in addition to the invitation to participate, reads: "If you wanted to make us angry, you succeeded."

Towards a permanent observatory against armaments

It is not the first time that the dockers of Genoa have received support from a large part of the population and institutions, even going so far as to move the Genoese Church and meet Pope Francis in 2021. The encouragement from below and above is nourishment for the workers fighting not only against the loading of armaments at the port of Genoa, but also against the passage of these ships.

At the end of last month, the City of Genoa spoke out during the protest held at Palazzo Tursi to demand a change of pace from the previous administration's indifference to arms trafficking in the port . Emilio Robotti, Councilor for Labor Relations in the Salis administration, declared that the City of Genoa is "against war, against all wars, including the one in Gaza, toward which the ship you are protesting today is reportedly headed."

It has therefore taken a strong stance, declaring its willingness as a Municipality to act as a spokesperson in all relevant forums for the demands put forward by workers and pacifist and non-violent associations to monitor arms trafficking from the port. Indeed, Law 185/90 exists, which prohibits transit to countries at war. The problem concerns those ships that declare a port of arrival, but whose actual destination is unknown.

Precisely for this reason, CALP spokesperson José Nivoi has called for an armaments observatory to receive timely information whenever suspicious cargoes are reported in the port of Genoa and thus avoid bureaucratic delays that allow such materials to leave the port.