Exclusive: Greek ships secretly supplying Israel with oil and military cargo
Greek shipping companies have been secretly transporting oil, coal and military cargo to Israel, Middle East Eye can reveal.
According to a new report, produced by the No Harbour for Genocide campaign and seen exclusively by MEE, at least 57 covert crude oil shipments were delivered to Israeli ports between May 2024 and December 2025, while Israel was carrying out its genocide in Gaza.
The approximately 47 million barrels of oil were taken to Israel via Turkey, with tracking signals disabled and false destinations listed, meaning the shipments were carried out in secret and in direct violation of Turkey’s trade embargo on Israel.
In 2025, Greek-managed vessels were also involved in at least 13 shipments to Israel carrying ammunition, machine gun components and other military materials used by Elbit Systems, the country’s largest arms manufacturer.
Between October 2023 and February 2026, eight covert coal deliveries totalling 751,000 tonnes were shipped from South Africa to Israel, according to satellite imagery and maritime tracking data.
The vast majority of the vessels taking this coal and oil were managed by the Kyklades Maritime Corporation and Thenamaris Ships Management, which are respectively controlled by two Greek shipping dynasties, the Alafouzos family and the Martinos family.
The billionaire owner of Panathinaikos football club Giannis Alafouzos recently met with US officials to “discuss collaboration amid global energy security and supply chain pressure”, while the Martinos family owns the largest shipping fleet in Greece.
Greek ships departed the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan listing false destinations, most usually Port Said in Egypt, researchers from No Harbour for Genocide found.
The activist coalition, which includes Progressive International, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Energy Embargo for Palestine, Global Energy Embargo for Palestine, and the People's Embargo for Palestine discovered that the vessels disabled their automatic identifications systems (AIS), which track a ship’s position.
Having “gone dark”, the ships then reappeared after offloading their cargo at Israeli ports, primarily Ashkelon. Satellite imagery seen by MEE confirms that the vessels were docked in Israel while their trackers were off.
The Greek vessels carrying coal from South Africa to Israel usually reported their destination as Damietta, the Egyptian port city, despite not docking there. They turned their AIS tracking signals off in the Mediterranean while heading east before turning them back on weeks later.
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea requires all vessels of 300 gross tonnage and upwards to keep their AIS turned on, making it illegal for all but the smallest cargo ships to turn their signals off.
Ships that turn their signals off or use other concealing tactics to evade international sanctions are referred to as being part of a “shadow fleet”.
Middle East Eye asked Kyklades and Thenamaris for comment but neither company responded by the time of publication.
Greek tankers managed by both companies have reportedly been part of a shadow fleet transporting oil to Russia in the aftermath of sanctions introduced following the invasion of Ukraine.
Greece and Israel enjoy significant economic and military ties, with former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis describing his country this week as a "satellite" and "handmaiden" of Israel.
Shadow ships and the BTC pipeline
Since Israel’s genocide in Gaza began following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, activists and the organised labour movement around Europe and the world have put pressure on countries and companies to stop supplying Israel with arms and vital goods.
“Dockworkers and communities put their bodies and their jobs on the line to stop a genocide,” said Ana Sanchez, spokesperson for the No Harbour for Genocide campaign.
“Shipowners turn off their tracking systems, falsify destinations, and endanger seafarers, all to profit from it. We know who they are, we know what they're doing, and now so does everyone else. It's time they are held accountable.”
In February, dockworkers in over 20 Mediterranean ports went on strike to demand an end to the shipping of military cargo to Israel.
In May 2024, Turkey announced it was suspending all imports and exports with Israel, citing the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
But vessels managed by Greek shipping dynasties have helped circumvent this embargo. Between October 2022 and the arrival of the embargo on 1 May 2024, Thenamaris and Kyklades accounted for 21.82 percent of oil shipments from Turkey to Israel.
From 2 May 2024 to 1 December 2025, according to No Harbour for Genocide, the two Greek firms accounted for 91.23 percent of oil shipments from Turkey to Israel.
'Shipowners turn off their tracking systems, falsify destinations, and endanger seafarers, all to profit from it'
- Ana Sanchez, No Harbour for Genocide
The crude oil delivered to Israel by the Greek companies comes from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which runs for 1,768 kilometres from a complex of Azerbaijani oil fields in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean.
It was refined into jet fuel for the Israeli air forces and fuel for military vehicles and tanks.
Israel gets at least 30 percent of its oil from the pipeline, which is operated by British oil giant BP. Since the US-Israeli war on Iran began at the end of February, there have been fears in Israel that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will target this crucial piece of energy infrastructure.
While Thenamaris and Kyklades have transported large oil shipments to Israel from Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon and Venezuela, their most significant relationship is with BP and SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil firm, co-owner of the BTC pipeline.
“This report shows that Israel’s war is not sustained in isolation, but through an international network of companies, ports, and governments that keep fuel and weapons moving even as the atrocities are broadcast to the world,” said Layla Hazaineh of Progressive International.
Military cargo shipped to Israel
Apart from the oil and thermal coal shadow shipments - Israel depends on imported coal to fuel its two coal-fired power stations - Greek firms have been crucial to the supply of military cargo to Israel during its genocide in Gaza.
No Harbour for Genocide found that in 2025 alone, at least 13 cargo runs by four Greek-managed vessels, the Contship Era, the Marla Bull, the Jamaica, and the Zim America, carried military hardware used by Elbit Systems.
Many of the Greek-owned vessels involved in these transfers were operated by ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, Israel’s largest shipping company.
The Contship Era completed at least five military cargo shipments, including machine gun components, to Israel in 2025. The Marla Bull, owned and managed by Marla Dry Bulk Shipmanagement, completed five shipments destined for Elbit Systems.
In October 2024, the Marla Bull was successfully blocked from transferring 21 tonnes of ammunition from the port of Piraeus by dockworkers and community activists.
Shortly afterwards, it was reported that Markos Bekris, leader of the Greek dockworkers’ union ENEDEP, was facing prosecution “for a solidarity action that blocked ammunition bound for Israel”.
In December 2025, the Zim America, managed by Costamere Shipping Company, of the Konstantakopoulos family, another prominent Greek shipping dynasty, was blocked from loading 18 tonnes of cannon barrels bound for Elbit Systems by French dockworkers.
“Greek shipping dynasties like the Alafouzos and Martinos families profit from Israel’s genocide against Palestinians through shady tactics, jeopardising worker lives and safety in the process,” said Maren Mantovani, a member of the anti-Israeli occupation BDS movement’s international secretariat.
“We call on the Greek people to take action to pressure their government to impose comprehensive trade, energy, and military embargoes against Israel that would block all supply routes implicated in Israel’s genocide, apartheid and illegal occupation.”
This article was sourced from Middle East Eye.
Read Full Article on Middle East Eye →