A Pro-Palestine rally at the Port of Melbourne led to multiple arrests and clashes with the police yesterday, says the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The incidents forced the closure of the Victorian International Container Terminal (VICT) over the weekend. The latest updates show that the terminal has reopened its gates today after multiple days of closure.
According to Australian local news agency, The Age, "more than 200 police officers, including some on horseback, were deployed on Monday following a request from port operators VICT to have the protesters removed."
Protesters wanted to prevent the Israeli-owned shipping company, ZIM, from unloading cargo at the port.
One ship in particular, ZIM Ganges, was forced to anchor at the bay. The current status information shows the ship is still waiting outside the port.
The 5504-TEU ship operates on ZIM's ZAX Asia-Oceania service. Delays to the service are to be expected as a result of the event.
The protests started on Friday, 19 January, and the number of participants reached 120, according to local news. One of the organisers behind the protests said they seek to block worker shifts from entering the terminal and stranding four ships with 30,000 containers.
Speaking to ABC, Victorian International Container Terminal CEO Bruno Porchietto revealed that 50,000 containers had been blocked since Friday.
Nevertheless, the police said they are working closely with the port in response to the protests.
