Phosphate ship ‘hid’ destination

A ship carrying 55,000 tonnes of phosphate from Western Sahara has arrived in Tauranga, having ‘‘disguised’’ its destination during its eight weeks at sea, according to activists.

The Venture Pearl, flying under a Liberian flag, berthed on Wednesday. The phosphate will be turned into superphosphate and spread on farms nationwide.

Stuff revealed last year how New Zealand was one of the last remaining markets for phosphate mined from Bou Craa in Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. The Saharawi people consider the phosphate stolen and have implored Western countries to stop importing it.

Ships travelling to New Zealand with the phosphate have to take an elaborate route, avoiding most African countries – which consider the product stolen – and also avoiding the Panama Canal, where a ship was detained in 2017 before being allowed to continue.

The Western Sahara liberation movement Polisario Front has been tracking the Venture Pearl since it left the territory’s port, Elaiun, at the start of June.

Polisario’s Australia-based spokesman Kamal Fadel said the ship listed China as its final destination, before changing that to Tauranga about a week out from its arrival.

Its cargo was listed as ‘‘fertiliser’’. Fadel said the Polisario Front had tracked many phosphate ships and this was the first time one had apparently tried to conceal its final destination for most of its journey.

‘‘Maybe they are concerned about legal action or protests in New Zealand, so they want to disguise to prevent that happening,’’ Fadel said.

The ship was chartered by Mt Maunganui-based Ballance Agrinutrients, a farmer-owned co-op, which imports about four such shipments a year. Ballance and Ravensdown (also a New Zealand farmer-owned co-op) are two of only three private companies worldwide which buy the disputed phosphate. Ballance spokesman David Glendining said: ‘‘Ballance has not in any way asked for the destination of this or other phosphate shipments to be concealed.’’

He added that declaring a destination was a requirement of berthing in New Zealand and was published by the port.

Glendining said buying phosphate mined in Western Sahara by the company Phosboucraa was in full compliance with international, national and local laws and regulations, including United Nations provisions for trade with non-self-governing territories.

He said a recent European Union report on trade with Western Sahara noted the local people had a right to economic development while the Un-led political process continued.

More than 75 per cent of employees at Phosboucraa were Saharawi, Glendining said, including the mine operations manager and the head of the Phosboucraa Foundation.

Ballance chief executive Mark Wynne and other staff had regularly visited Phosboucraa ‘‘to see first-hand the local investment in community and economic development programmes, environmental and social initiatives’’.

Ballance expected its suppliers to comply with international labour, ethical trading and human rights requirements.

But the Polisario Front is demanding that Ballance return the phosphate. Fadel said legal action would be launched in New Zealand soon.