A container ship stalled by protesters at the Port of Oakland for four days was unloaded by longshore workers and sailed away early Wednesday, officials said.
The unloading of the ZIM vessel Piraeus, operated by an Israeli company, had been delayed by Block the Boat protesters responding to recent Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The ship was unloaded at Berth 22 in the area known as Ports America Outer Harbor, Port spokesman Robert Bernardo said.
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Because of a small number of protesters and minimal police presence remained, longshore workers "determined that the atmosphere did not pose a threat to their safety," allowing them to safely enter and work the vessel, ILWU Local 10 said in a news release.
Jennifer Sargent, a union spokeswoman, said Wednesday that after some delays, 30 longshore workers began unloading the ship at 10 p.m. Tuesday and finished at 4 a.m. Wednesday.
The ship, which departed later on Wednesday morning, was carrying crates of sparkling wine and ceramic tiles from Spain, cheese and long-grain rice from Italy and organic red lentils and marble from Turkey among other items. Commodities from Israel included irrigation equipment, solar heaters for swimming pools and tires, according to the ship's manifest.
Even though the ship was eventually unloaded, Block the Boat called the four-day delay a "historic victory."
The delay sparked concerns by another union, the Teamsters Joint Council 7 . During the protest, the union issued a statement calling on longshore workers to "immediately unload the ship" and said their issue was not the Isreal/Palestine conflict, but the impact the protests have on local jobs.
"Our members haul containers from the Port of Oakland by truck and rail and anything that hurts commerce hurts our members and damages the economy of the Bay Area," said Rome Aloise, Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and President of Teamsters Joint Council 7.
Let the Teamsters knock some heads together - that will take care of them.
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