London, 9 August 2021 (SPS)- For the second time in two weeks, wind energy products could be illegally exported from the Spanish city of Bilbao to occupied Western Sahara to build a windfarm in the Sahrawi city of Boudjdour by Spanish company Siemens Gamesa, warned Sunday the international observatory Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW).
“Yet again, the cargo vessel Johannes is returning to port of Bilbao, Spain, most likely to pick up elements for Siemens Gamesa's construction of a controversial windfarm in occupied Western Sahara. The ship is expected to arrive at the Basque city on the morning of 11 August 2021,” said WSRW.
Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) already revealed the first cargo made by the same ship from Bilbao to El Aaiún, Western Sahara, on 21 July 2021.
According to the same source, “the hold of the ship was at the time full of key elements for the windmills. As WSRW expected, during that incident Johannes made a stopover in Tangiers, where it picked up blades, before continuing to El Aaiún, where it arrived on 4 August. On 5 August, it returned for Bilbao.”
In total, WSRW has now documented at least seven shipments of windmill components arriving in the occupied territory since the end of June 2021.
The three vessels Johannes (IMO 9815343), Aramis, (IMO 9815529) and Breb Countess (IMO 9421166) are all in the fleet of German company Briese Schiffahrt.
In addition, WSRW has detected two other vessels over the last weeks that might also be connected to supplies to the controversial Boujdour wind farm. This has not been confirmed.
Morocco's energy projects in the occupied territory take place without the consent of the people of Western Sahara, and are in violation of international humanitarian law. (SPS)
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