Maritime Unions to Cut Off S. Africa Oil
Seamen and dock workers from all over the world met Wednesday in London to chart ways of choking off what they call a “secret trade” in oil to South Africa.
Conference officials said all shipowners and oil companies will be warned that any of their vessels delivering oil to South Africa in clandestine shipments could be boycotted by national unions across the globe.
The meeting, bringing together representatives of seafarers from more than 30 countries including the Soviet Union and China as well as Western nations, was called to coordinate support for the U.N. embargo on oil supplies to South Africa.
Britain’s opposition Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock, opening the two-day conference, said economic sanctions against the Pretoria government must be intensified now that “apartheid is clearly starting to crumble.”
No violators of the U.N. voluntary embargo were named at the first session of the conference, co-sponsored by the U.N. Special Committee Against Apartheid and by Maritime Unions Against Apartheid.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
