The cargo was undeclared. The MSC Vega, which docked at the Cagliari canal port on March 24th, coming from the port of Piraeus in Greece, was only supposed to carry empty containers before departing two days later for Valencia, Spain. But on the 25th, the Port Authority, the Port System Authority, the Customs Agency, and the Guardia di Finanza received a report from the law firm Elsa Kiranmoyee Chaudhuri, on behalf of the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), an independent organization that defends and legally supports the Palestine solidarity movement in Europe. The hypothesis: "A suspected shipment of steel materials (dual-use ballistic steel) potentially suitable for use in the Israeli military industry." A blockade was immediately implemented, and eleven containers were seized pending trial.
The Ministry's statements
The Ministry of Transport's response to a question from Five Star Movement MP Antonino Iaria, filed with his Sardinian colleagues Mario Perantoni and Susanna Cherchi, sheds light on a previously unclear matter involving the possible unauthorized transit of war material in Cagliari. They asked for clarification on the controls and seizure of suspicious goods.
"Following the report," the ministry writes, "the Customs Agency, together with the Guardia di Finanza, immediately initiated the necessary investigations. The checks," it turns out, led to "the unloading and inspection at the dock of 11 containers containing steel materials classified as dual-use." Therefore: civilian and military.
The fate of the material
But what happened to the goods? They are being held "temporarily" in a suitable area of the port "and will remain in custody until the UAMA, the national authority responsible for the control, export, import, and transit of military goods and dual-use products, determines." The actual nature of the goods and their end user, the Ministry of Transport continues, "can only be determined when, and if, the person legally responsible for the transit operation submits a specific request to the UAMA to obtain the necessary prior authorization. It cannot be ruled out that the latter," it emphasizes, "based on any instructions received from the shipper, may decide to suspend transit operations and therefore return the goods to their country of origin."
The M5S in Parliament
"We were right to demand clarity regarding the suspicious containers in the port of Cagliari," Sardinian Five Star Movement MPs Susanna Cherchi, Sabrina Licheri, Ettore Licheri, and Mario Perantoni stated in a statement. "We are talking about cargoes that are seriously questionable. Initially, they were supposed to be empty containers, but we discovered they were containers carrying dual-use materials and steel, potentially destined for the military industry, headed for Israel. This is not a technical detail," they emphasize, "but a serious issue that calls into question compliance with Italian law and international obligations, starting with Law 185/1990. The news that has emerged in recent days, the reports from unions and associations, and the inspections already initiated by the authorities demonstrate that the doubts were far from unfounded."
