Irish investigative outlet The Ditch has uncovered documentation showing that 75 bundles of military grade steel, originated in India and initially shipped from Bombay, are currently on the Ever Golden vessel (IMO: 9811012), off the coast of southern Africa and on their way to Haifa.
The cargo was loaded in Singapore on the Ever Golden to be transported to the Eastern Mediterranean and from there transshipped to Haifa.
The Ever Golden departed from Singapore on June 13 and is scheduled to arrive in the Eastern Mediterranean between July 10-12. The vessel is sailing under the flag of Panama and owned by Pedregal Maritime SA, subsidiary of the Japanese Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, which is also the vessel’s commercial and International Safety Management (ISM) managers of the vessel. Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. in turn is a subsidiary of giant Japanese shipping company Imabari Shipbuilding. The current operator of the Ever Golden is the Taiwanese Evergreen Maritime.
Update June 29:
According to the documentation available, the Ever Golden is scheduled to dock on July 10 in the port of Piraeus, Greece, to transship the steel on a feeder vessel, the Folk Dammam (IMO: 9939876), to be delivered to the port of Haifa.
The Folk Dammam sails under the flag of Saudi Arabia since Folk Maritime, a company of the Saudi state owned Public Investment Fund, purchased the vessel on May 15 2025.
Documentation indicates that the time the transshipment had been arranged before May 15, when the Folk Dammam was still called Vega Coligny and sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands.
Legal framework:
Leading legal and UN human rights experts agree: transferring military materiel (including dual-use items like the steel bars carried by Ever Golden) to a state imposing a system of apartheid and unlawful occupation; plausibly committing genocide, as determined by the International Court of Justice; and carrying out wars of aggression against sovereign states in the region, is illegal under international law. States and corporations that knowingly allow or engage in such transfers, or states that fail to act when corporations under their jurisdiction are involved, are themselves complicit.
We call on the grassroots movements and civil society in:
Japan: To put pressure on the manager and owner of the Ever Golden, Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd, as well as the government of Japan, where the company is headquartered, to ensure the genocidal cargo is stopped. The registered owner is responsible for the vessel’s legal and regulatory compliance and is often the entity that holds the ship’s title. The state and judicial authorities have to hold the company accountable for their complicity in arming Israel’s genocide.
Panama: To put pressure on the government and shipping registry of Panama to immediately adopt a policy that reaffirms that they will uphold their obligations to ensure that no military supplies for Israel’s genocide, illegal occupation and apartheid nor for any conflict area across the world will be carried under their flag. Antigua and Barbuda has set the standard for such policy. We need pressure on Panama to adopt it and implement it now. Panama has to seek cooperation from coastal states to stop and confiscate the cargo, issue directive like Antigua and Barbuda.
Taiwan: To put pressure on the operator of the Evergreen Maritime, as well as the government of Taiwan, where the company is headquartered, to ensure the cargo is stopped. The state and judicial authorities have to hold the company accountable for their complicity in arming Israel’s genocide.
Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, and other coastal states: Stay alert and guarantee that their ports will reject any requests for docking or otherwise servicing the Ever Golden to ensure that those ports don’t aid and assist this illegal transfer, and the Ever Golden does not pass through their territorial waters.
Greece: To put pressure on the government and port authorities to ensure they will reject any requests for docking or otherwise servicing the Ever Golden to ensure that Greek ports stop aiding and assisting illegal military transfer, and the Ever Golden is not able to transship the illegal military cargo in Greek territorial waters to a feeder vessel.
Saudi Arabia: Warn the Folk Maritime of the transshipments the Folk Dammam has carried over from its previous owners and ensure the vessels of Folk Maritime and flying the flag of Saudi Arabia are not involved in illegal military transfers to Israel.