The MSC DANIT cargo ship docked at Abu Qir port in Alexandria on Monday after protests complicated its docking in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey, according to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which said the vessel was carrying military steel bound for Israel.
The docking is likely to draw scrutiny in Egypt because BDS called on Egyptians and trade unions to pressure authorities to deny the ship access to Egyptian ports and prevent what it described as the delivery of military materials to Israel.
Al Manassa verified that the ship had docked at Abu Qir port. MarineTraffic and MagicPort data show the vessel departed from Visakhapatnam International Port in India on Feb. 17 and arrived at the Egyptian port on Monday after a three-day stop at the port of Sines in Portugal.
Container ship MSC DANIT shown in Abu Qir port, March 24, 2026BDS said the ship is part of a Mediterranean Shipping Company network that transports raw materials used in ammunition manufacturing. It said available data showed about eight containers had been moved from India through the Mediterranean.
Previous data and patterns indicate that company vessels transported 23 containers carrying about 600 tons of military steel from India to Israel through the Mediterranean, enough to produce about 13,000 155 mm artillery shells, the statement said.
Those shells can be fitted with different types of warheads, including conventional explosives, cluster munitions, and white phosphorus, and have been used in Israeli military operations in Gaza and other areas, the statement said. It added that Israeli artillery bombardment in the first weeks of the war on Gaza included tens of thousands of shells of that caliber.
According to the analysis cited by the movement, the steel shipments are delivered to two Israeli military manufacturers, Elbit Systems and IMI Systems, the main producers of Israeli ammunition.
Ship-tracking data show the Panama-flagged MSC DANIT is one of the largest vessels in the fleet of Italy’s Mediterranean Shipping Company. Built in 2009, it is about 366 meters long and 52 meters wide, with a gross tonnage exceeding 153,000 tons and a carrying capacity of more than 165,000 tons. It is currently operated by Switzerland’s MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co.
Al Manassa could not independently verify the nature of the ship’s cargo or the contents of the shipments on board. Egyptian authorities and MSC had not commented on the movement’s statement at the time of publication.
