The US Government-owned Cape Orlando sealift/Ro-Ro vessel has successfully loaded cargo and departed Tacoma Port, Washington, US despite protestors’ attempts to block the ship, which they say carried weapons and military hardware for Israel’s current war on Hamas in Gaza.
Although it is a government-owned vessel used for military transport, the Cape Orlando is civilian-crewed.
Several hundred activists arrived at the Pacific seaport on Monday morning (6 November) to disrupt ship and port operations.
The last available Marine Traffic data shows the Cape Orlando transiting past Oregon, just off the US Pacific coast. The vessel is out of AIS range at the time of publication. Ship Technology was unable to independently verify the ship's destination port.
A small group of protestors paddled kayaks around the ship in an attempt to continue the blockade on water, monitored by a US Coast Guard patrol vessel.
The protest in Washington state comes days after demonstrators attempted to block the Cape Orlando from leaving the Port of Portland in Oregon, the state directly south of Washington, on Friday (3 November).
The continued US military assistance to Israel is a point of international controversy. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have taken place across the country after the House of Representatives passed a bill to send $14.5bn in military aid to bolster Israel’s air defence and missile systems.
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