New Zealand's maritime union opposes country's Red Sea military involvement

New Zealand's maritime union has voiced its opposition to a decision by Wellington to deploy a detachment of the country’s military to the Red Sea, amid rising tensions in strategic waters.

According to reports, Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison made the remarks on Wednesday, following a request from the United States that New Zealand send a military team to the region as part of an international coalition to "uphold maritime security" in the Red Sea.

Harrison went on to say that if the New Zealand government is concerned about shipping security, there are better places to start, stressing that the response of the Labour Party and Green Party opposing military involvement in the Red Sea is “the correct one.”

He also noted that the only solution to the Red Sea maritime conflict is an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the negotiation of a political solution for Palestine.

Harrison further emphasized that the military involvement by the US and Western countries in the Red Sea could result in more violence and instability, calling on the New Zealand government to work for peace by defusing the war in Gaza and ending the mass deaths of civilians rather than trying to ramp up a war. 

“As a union representing seafarers we are extremely concerned about the danger all seafarers are facing in the Red Sea, and in the meantime, the only option is for shipping to avoid the area,” Harrison noted.

Harrison also said, “The government has just canceled replacement ferries for the Cook Strait, which is a major threat to New Zealand transport links, so they should try dealing with problems a bit closer to home.”

“If the government is serious about protecting New Zealand trade, it must rebuild the country’s shipping to provide resilience and redundancy in the supply chain,” he added.

Yemen's Armed Forces have been staging missile and drone attacks against vessels heading to Israeli ports in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has been under an unrelenting genocidal war by the Israeli regime since early October.

The Yemeni forces have vowed to keep up their strikes until the regime stops the war and lifts a concomitant siege that it has been imposing on Gaza.

SS