Mask Off Maersk: How the global shipping industry facilitates colonialism, militarism, and environmental destruction

As the Israeli government continues the relentless bombardment of Gaza and its genocide of the Palestinian people, the movement for Palestine has never been stronger. But the violence has not stopped, and Palestinians continued to be murdered, maimed, and starved. That’s why it’s time to expand our fight to include the silent actors that make genocide possible.

Honor the Earth is proud to join the Palestinian Youth Movement in its struggle for liberation and campaign against Maersk, a Danish shipping and logistics conglomerate that operates one of the world’s largest container fleets.

The campaign has two core demands: 

1. End the transportation of arms and arms components to Israel

2. Cut all contracts that fuel genocide

Maersk is part of the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA) and the Maritime Security Program (MSP) which transport weapons on behalf of the US Department of Defense. Maersk is both complicit in the transport of weapons components to the US, and the transport of weapons from the US to Israel, making it a critical link in the weapons supply chain.

Since October, Maersk has transported weapons components for the top 5 weapons manufacturers to the US for assembly. In total, a quarter of identified shipments of components for Northrup Gruman, Woodward, Raytheon, and Lockheed into the US are on Maersk ships.

The company transports the wings of Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets, many of which are sent to Israel once they are built.

A whopping 68% of Israel's weapons come from the US, meaning that a good portion of those are moved around the globe by Maersk’s vast shipping network.

Maersk’s shipments to Israel represent only a fraction of its multibillion dollar business, but life or death for the people of Palestine. 

Without the transportation of weapons shipments, Israel cannot continue its genocide. By transporting arms across the globe, logistics companies like Maersk not only make the genocide of Palestinians a reality but turn a profit while doing so. Stopping Maersk from shipping weapons will help disrupt the supply chain of death.

But it’s not only Palestine that suffers from weapons shipments. Across the globe, militaries and militarized policing are used as colonial tools to repress Indigenous Peoples and their struggles for liberation. As climate change causes millions of refugees to seek new homes, border militarization is increasing, further entrenching this cycle of violence and oppression.

And this militarism significantly contributes to the continued degradation of Mother Earth. The US Department of Defense is one of the world’s largest institutional users of fossil fuels and thus one of the largest producers of greenhouse gasses. 

Similarly, the shipping industry, dominated by companies like Maersk, is a substantial contributor to climate change. In 2022 alone, Maersk produced 34.5 million metric tons of CO2, accounting for approximately 0.1% of global carbon emissions. The environmental impact of the logistics sector mirrors the destructive patterns seen in military operations, yet often goes undetected by the climate justice movement. 

Maersk has not only profited off of the genocide of Indigenous peoples through the transportation of weapons to a nation committing genocide but also through extractive oil and gas investments. The fight against Maersk is a fight against colonialism, militarism, and environmental destruction.

We can’t let corporations off the hook when they profit off of genocide.

We must fight together for life, land, sovereignty, and the future of Mother Earth.