MV ''Rachel Corrie'' is a 499 GT coaster owned and operated by the Free Gaza Movement. The ship is named in honour of

Rachel Corrie Rachel Aliene Corrie (April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003) was an American activist and diarist. A member of the pro-Palestinian group International Solidarity Movement (ISM), she was crushed to death by an armored bulldozer of the Israel ...

, a deceased member of the International Solidarity Movement. Built by

J.J. Sietas Pella Sietas was a shipbuilding company in Neuenfelde, Cranz, in southwest Hamburg. It was created from the insolvent firm of J.J Sietas KG Schiffswerft GmbH u. Co. It is located in the estuary of the Este (river), Este river at Unterelbe. On 29 Ju ...

in Hamburg in 1967, she was originally named ''Carsten''; she has also carried the names ''Norasia Attika'', ''Manya'' and ''Linda''. In June 2010 the vessel was intercepted by Israeli Defence Forces while attempting to break the Israeli

blockade of the Gaza Strip The blockade of the Gaza Strip is the ongoing land, air, and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt temporarily in 2005–2006 and permanently from 2007 onwards, following the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. The block ...

and to deliver humanitarian aid.

Description

The ship was built as yard number 625 by J J Sietas, Germany. Completed in May 1967, she is long, with a beam of and a depth of . The ship is powered by a

Deutz Deutz may refer to: People * Emmanuel Deutz (1763–1842), German-born French rabbi * Rupert of Deutz, (–), Benedictine theologian and writer * Simon Deutz (1802–1852), German-born French courtier Places * Deutz, Cologne, a former town, si ...

diesel engine which can propel her at .

History

Early history

Originally named ''Carsten'', she was sold in 1993 to P Buck,

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

and renamed ''Norasia Attika''. She was sold on 8 December that year to Ariadna Shipping Ltd, St Vincent. On 1 February 1994 she was placed under the management of H Möller KG, Germany. She was renamed ''Manya'' on 24 November 2000. On 23 February 2004 she was sold to Hanza Bunkering Ltd. She was renamed ''Linda'' on 24 November 2003. On 30 August 2005 she was sold to Lackner Ventures Ltd. On 28 November 2005, she was placed under the management of Eestinova. ''Linda'' was used by

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

for exporting beer before being converted for use as a freighter. Her port of registry was

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

. The IMO Number 6715281 and MMSI Number 515886000 are allocated. ''Rachel Corrie'' uses the Callsign XUJW8.

1999–2009

By 2009, the ship had been bringing timber into

Dundalk, Ireland Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is hal ...

from the Baltic for the previous 10 years.Margaret Roddy
Port comes to aid of stranded crew
, The Argus, 26 August 2009. At the end of July that year, the Cambodian-registered vessel and its crew were abandoned by its owners, Forestry Shipping, of

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, a company which has gone out of business.Terry Conlon
Crew to stay aboard ship for 'as long as it takes to get paid'
, Irish Times, 22 August 2009. The crew were left with one day's food and were owed arrears of pay that totaled €42,000. With the assistance of the Irish union SIPTU, an affiliate of the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...

(ITF), they were repatriated to their home countries in November 2009.

2009–present

After being seized by the High Court on behalf of the ITF, the ship was sold at auction in Dundalk for €70,000 to the Free Gaza Movement on 30 March 2010. This enabled ITF Inspector Ken Fleming to pay the crew their arrears. It was outfitted at Brown's Quay in Dundalk, Ireland, for use in a voyage to

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon * Ghazzeh, a village in ...

. While there, a significant amount of navigational equipment worth between €15,000 and €20,000 was stolen from the vessel. The ship was renamed in honor of

, an American college student crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to prevent a

house demolition House demolition is primarily a military tactic which has been used in many conflicts for a variety of purposes. It has been employed as a scorched earth tactic to deprive the advancing enemy of food and shelter, or to wreck the enemy's economy a ...

. The vessel was launched on 12 May 2010 from Dundalk with the full title MV ''Rachel Corrie''.

2010 Gaza journey

MV ''Rachel Corrie'' had intended to sail with the six ships of the

Gaza Freedom Flotilla The Gaza Freedom Flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, with the intention of breaking ...

, but was unable to join the other ships because of mechanical problems that forced it to undergo repairs in Malta, possibly resulting from Israeli sabotage. The other six ships were confronted by a raid on 30 May 2010. In the violent clashes that followed, nine Turkish activists were killed and several dozen activists and ten IDF soldiers were injured. The ship got underway on 31 May 2010, with her crew insisting that they would go to Gaza. Despite repeated requests by the Irish Government and others to let the ship through to Gaza, Israeli commandos boarded the ship from speed boats at around noon on 5 June 2010, in international waters about from Gaza, seized control, and took ship and passengers to Israel.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rachel Corrie 1967 ships Ships built in Hamburg Merchant ships of Antigua and Barbuda Merchant ships of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Merchant ships of Latvia Merchant ships of Cambodia Gaza flotilla raid Rachel Corrie Ireland–Israel relations Maritime incidents in Israel Maritime incidents in 2010