Above photo: Protesters outside of Maersk headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark on March 18. Mask Off Maersk.
The Danish shipping company faced global protest as part of the “Mask off Maersk” campaign on the day that shareholders voted on resolutions.
Including whether or not to block arms shipments to Israel.
Danish shipping company Maersk, responsible for transporting hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel since October 7, 2023, voted on Tuesday in its annual general shareholder meeting against resolutions that would have halted arms shipments to Israel.
The vote comes in the wake of Israel’s resumption of the genocide in Gaza. The day of the vote was also marked with a wave of global protest, as part of a day of action called by the the international “Mask off Maersk” campaign launched by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), with the intent of continuing to put pressure on the shipping giant to cease its role in Israeli genocide.
“The massacres that Israel is committing on the Palestinian people cannot be carried out without the flow of weapon components that logistics companies such as Maersk facilitate,” read a statement by the Mask of Maersk campaign. “Maersk is a lifeline of Israel’s war machine, ensuring that the bombs keep falling, the tanks keep rolling, and the massacres continue. They are the arteries of the genocide on Gaza.”
Worldwide Movement Against Maersk
Demonstrations took place across the globe on March 18. Actions were held in major cities in Sweden, Belgium, England, the US, and outside Maersk headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.
On March 18 at the University of California — Los Angeles, students and activists waves Palestinian flags and held signs with slogans such as “Free Palestine,” rallying to demand that the university divest from genocide and that Maersk end shipments to Israel.
HAPPENING NOW: UCLA students and pro-Palestine orgs rally together against Israel breaking ceasefire and resuming its full-scale war on Gaza. Students are demanding the UC regents divest from genocide, and an end to Maersk’s shipments. pic.twitter.com/rsubxqD7xp
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) March 18, 2025
Dozens also rallied outside a Maersk building in Florham Park, New Jersey on Tuesday, holding a banner that read “Maersk profits from Gaza genocide.”
These protesters are joining the global demand for an arms embargo against Israel, especially after Israel broke the ceasefire agreement and resumed bombing in Gaza in the early hours of March 18.
Shareholders Vote Against Halting Arms Shipments
During the company’s AGM this week, shareholders struck down resolutions that called for a ban on arms shipments to Israel. One of the resolutions came as a result of efforts by shareholder activist group Kritiske Aktionærer. Another resolution called for greater transparency from Maersk in terms of human rights, particularly regarding arms shipments. Over 70 organizations signed onto a joint letter to support the latter resolution, including human rights organization DAWN, founded by slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Amnesty International, Food Not Bombs, Eko, and Progressive International.
Maersk shareholder Zen Donen told AFP that the company’s weapons shipments to Israel are “in violation of international conventions, assuming that military equipment, weapons, and components were used in Israeli army operations where international conventions are breached.”
Although the two resolutions ultimately did not pass, “our actions around the world made sure that Maersk could not ignore our demands,” Jeanine Hourani, a lead organizer in the Mask Off Maersk campaign, told Peoples Dispatch. “We know that it’s going to take a diversity of tactics applied on a global level to pressure Maersk to cut ties with genocide. Shareholder pressure is only one of these pressure points. We are committed to continuing applying pressure until all of our demands are met!”
Maersk Denies Shipping Weapons To Israel
However, Maersk has denied that it ships weapons to Israel. “The premise of the proposal is not correct, as the company is not transporting arms to Israel,” the company said.
The company said in a March 18 statement that it “upholds a strict policy of not shipping weapons or ammunition to active conflict zones, ensuring compliance with international regulations and alignment with our company values.”
“The cargo shipped by MLL [Maersk Line, Limited] on behalf of the US government to Israel has always had an overall, clear restriction,” Maersk claimed. “The US security cooperation program prohibits transporting classified or sensitive cargo, which includes weapons and ammunition, without a Transportation Plan submitted by the transporter and approved by the US government. MLL has never submitted a Transportation Plan for approval of these types of shipments, which confirms that MLL has never transported classified or sensitive equipment under this program.”
Maersk’s claims run contrary to research by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)’s Mask Off Maersk campaign, which reviewed 2,110 US shipments on Maersk vessels from September 2023 to September 2024, which were listed as being shipped to or on behalf of the Government of Israel’s Ministry of Defense, finding that “827 of which were for armored vehicles, tactical vehicles, weapons systems, or parts thereof.”
“Maersk has publicly conceded that the shipments in question are part of US foreign military sales to Israel,” Hourani told Peoples Dispatch. “Maersk claims these shipments do not constitute weapons, but by our count, shipping the body of a tank, the treads of a tank, the engine of a tank, and the armor of a tank is the equivalent of shipping a tank—and we are confident that those upholding international human rights law would agree.”
On March 20, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) announced a partnership with Mask Off Maersk, adding the Danish shipping giant as an official target for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign. “Through this partnership, we will continue to maximize our strength and apply global pressure on Maersk. We call on people all over the world to get involved in targeting Maersk. From organizing divestment and boycott campaigns, to passing arms embargo resolutions through trade unions, to demanding institutions cut contracts with Maersk,” BDS and Mask Off Maersk said in a joint statement, indicating that the movement to put pressure on Maersk to stop shipping arms to Israel is only growing.