Port Elizabeth
Challenging arms shipments through one of America's largest container ports. The sea route where Maersk and ZIM load Israel-bound military cargo, and where longshoremen can refuse it.
🔍 Why Port Elizabeth matters
Port Elizabeth, part of the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, is run by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, the same public agency behind the region's airports, bridges, and tunnels. A November 2024 investigation by the Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International found Maersk had moved millions of pounds of US military cargo to Israel since October 2023, including tank engines and aircraft parts. Of 2,110 US-to-Israel shipments examined, all but six passed through this port (People's Dispatch, December 2024).
🚢 What moves through Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth is the sea half of the region's arms logistics; the air half runs through JFK and Newark. Containers bound for Israel are loaded onto Maersk and Israeli line ZIM vessels. The Jersey City warehouse for Israel-bound military cargo ships its sea volume through this terminal.
The anti-apartheid cargo boycotts of the 1980s are the precedent Block the Boat draws on today, most famously the eleven days in November 1984 when San Francisco longshore workers refused to unload South African cargo from the Nedlloyd Kimberley (FoundSF). Port Elizabeth in New Jersey has been a repeated site of Block the Boat actions since 2025.
Source: Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International investigation, as reported by People's Dispatch (December 2024). The Jersey City warehouse that consolidates Israel-bound military cargo ships its sea volume out through this terminal; the facility handled 91 percent of Israel-bound sea exports of military gear not routed through U.S. military bases (Drop Site News).
🏢 Complicit companies routed through Port Elizabeth
Every company below has been verified and confirmed by our research team. Each links to its full profile with role, location, evidence, and sources, pulled live from the audited database.
❓ Questions about this chokepoint
Do weapons ship through Port Newark-Elizabeth?
Yes. A November 2024 investigation by the Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International found that Maersk had moved millions of pounds of U.S. military cargo to Israel since October 2023, including tank engines and aircraft parts, and that of 2,110 U.S.-to-Israel shipments examined, all but six passed through this port (People's Dispatch). The Jersey City warehouse that handled 91 percent of Israel-bound sea exports of military gear not routed through U.S. military bases ships its sea volume out through this terminal (Drop Site News).
Which shipping lines carry military cargo to Israel from Port Elizabeth?
Two carriers are documented in Break the Chain's audited database. Maersk is the prime contractor globally for transporting F-35 fighter jet parts, and issued a March 2025 public statement on its military-related cargo shipments (Maersk). ZIM Integrated Shipping, the Israeli carrier and a well-known provider of services for the Israeli Ministry of Defense, was found by Peace Action and International Peace Information Service investigators to have carried as much as 246 tons of munitions out of Hamburg, and a leading NGO coalition has taken ZIM to court for illegal weapon transfer (Business and Human Rights Resource Centre).
What is Block the Boat at Port Elizabeth?
Block the Boat is the organizing tradition that draws on the anti-apartheid cargo boycotts of the 1980s, most famously the eleven days in November 1984 when San Francisco longshore workers refused to unload South African cargo from the Nedlloyd Kimberley (FoundSF). Port Elizabeth in New Jersey has been a repeated site of Block the Boat actions. On October 3, 2025, about 100 activists shut the terminal's gates at dawn and four people were arrested (NJ Palestine Support News). On May 22, 2026, organizers blockaded the terminal with a truck, an RV, and a chain of bodies, calling on the International Longshoremen's Association to refuse to load ZIM ships bound for Israel (Waging Nonviolence).
What records document the Port Elizabeth shipments?
The shipments are documented through shipping records and published reporting. The Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International examined 2,110 U.S.-to-Israel shipments in their November 2024 investigation (People's Dispatch). Drop Site News traced the Jersey City warehouse's sea exports to this terminal. Maersk issued its own March 2025 public statement on military-related cargo shipments (Maersk). Every carrier named on this page is backed by a published source, and the whole database is public under CC0 on the tracker.
📢 What's Happening
Organizers are pressing the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) to refuse to load ZIM ships bound for Israel.
On May 22, 2026, organizers blockaded the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal with a truck, an RV, and a chain of bodies, calling on the ILA to refuse ZIM ships bound for Israel (Waging Nonviolence). It followed an October 3, 2025 Block the Boat blockade of the same terminal, when about 100 activists shut the gates at dawn and four people were arrested (NJ Palestine Support News).
📚 Resources & Actions
✊ How to Get Involved
- Sign the Port Authority petition: add your name to Arms Embargo Now, calling on the Port Authority to stop facilitating military cargo.
- Support port actions: join Break the Chain to take part in awareness actions and solidarity pickets at the port.
- Spread the word: follow @breakthechain4pal for upcoming actions and share what moves through Port Elizabeth.
🗺️ Other Campaigns
JFK Airport
Where weapons fly out, and where workers can ground them. Demanding an arms embargo at the Port Authority of NY & NJ.
View Campaign → Active CampaignNewark Airport
Organizing against military logistics at Newark Liberty. The same Port Authority that runs JFK runs Newark, and the same public pressure can reach it.
View Campaign → Active CampaignJersey City Warehouse
The largest civilian warehouse in the U.S. storing weapons shipped to Israel. One commercial building in a residential neighborhood, feeding both the airports and the port.
View Campaign → Active CampaignBrooklyn Navy Yard
Exposing the military-industrial connections hiding inside Brooklyn's historic shipyard. A public industrial park should not be a node in the arms supply chain.
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