- As Deadly Melbourne Siege is Being Treated as Terror Attack
Spanish ports are facing another round of strikes as stevedores announced plans to strike next week as well.
Namely, the strikes are to be held from June 14th, 0800 hrs till June 16th 0800 hrs. In addition, dockworkers said that they would stop work at odd hours on June 19th, 21st, 23rd, resulting in only 50% of workable time.
Spanish dockworker unions launched a nation-wide strike on Monday impacting operations across the country’s 39 cargo ports. According to the representatives of the Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores del Mar (Coordinadora), a Spanish dockworkers union, almost 100 percent of workers supported the strike, which is over 6,000 stevedores.
Fears have been raised on what the strikes’ effect would be on the country’s port sector as shipping companies endeavor to reroute their cargoes to rival ports.
Alternative destinations used by firms included Portugal, Morocco and Malta, Reuters reported.
“Even more, the situation in most of Spanish ports will be affected by a poor daily production and causing medium/big delays in vessels’ operations,” Spain-based GAC sub-agent told World Maritime News in a statement.
However, the strike is not affecting tankers and liquid bulk cargo, basic essential goods and perishable goods, the statement further reads.
Port of Algeciras, the country’s biggest transshipment hub, is likely to suffer the biggest blow as companies like Maersk Line omit their calls to avoid delays in delivery.
The strikes have resulted from the conflict between Spanish stevedores associations and the government that passed a decree on liberalization of port services, putting dockworkers’ jobs in the hands of the companies that could replace them with cheaper labor.
During the recent talks between the union and Anesco, port employers’ association, the latter could not guarantee the security of all dockworker jobs, which prompted the workers to go ahead with their strike plans for this week.
In the meantime, Australian police say they are treating a siege in Melbourne, Australia on Monday as a terrorist incident but are confident the perpetrator acted alone.
29-year-old Somali-born Australian Yacub Khayre was shot and killed by police after he killed a man and took a woman hostage in an apartment block. Three police officers were injured during the standoff.
Khayre had booked a prostitute to meet him at an address in the south of the city on Monday afternoon local time. But when the 36-year-old Colombian woman arrived, Khayre killed the building’s concierge, a 36-year-old Chinese-Australian man, and took her hostage. It’s alleged he then called the offices of NBC’s Australian partners Channel 7 and told an employee “This is for IS [Islamic State], this is for Al Qaeda.”
ISIS has issued a claim of responsibility through its news agency, Amaq, but Australian police say they are treating that with a heavy degree of skepticism.
“We’re aware of online, them having claimed responsibility, but then they always tend to jump up and claim responsibility every time something happens so we note that that has happened. But he’s also made statements last night around al Qaeda.” State Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said.
Al Qaeda and ISIS also have no direct affiliation, and are effectively in opposition to one another, making the alleged claim by Khayre confusing.
Australian media have reported Khayre deliberately tampered with his court-issued GPS ankle bracelet to lure police to the address, and after a two hour siege he emerged from the building shooting, injuring three police before being killed. The woman escaped unharmed.
After immigrating to Australia with his parents from Somalia at the age of three, Khrayre had a long history of violent crime and was on parole for a 2012 drug-affected home invasion.
He had previously been accused of involvement in a 2009 terror plot to attack an Australian army base, and although he was acquitted of those charges, three of his associates were jailed for 18 years. Khayre nevertheless had a criminal record of over 40 offenses, including aggravated burglary, unlawful assault and drug possession.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would be asking for answers from state authorities on how Khayre was allowed to be out on parole.
“This terrorist attack by a known criminal, a man who was only recently released on parole, is a shocking, cowardly crime. It is a terrorist attack and it underlines the need for us to be constantly vigilant, never to be deterred, always defiant, in the face of Islamist terrorism.” He told reporters this afternoon.
“He had a long record of violence. A very long record of violence. He had been charged with a terrorist offence some years ago and had been acquitted. He was known to have connections at least in the past with violent extremism, but he was a known violent offender. How was he on parole?”
World Maritime News with additional report from NBC
