Social media users shared articles claiming that bodies, trafficked children and weapons were found by the US Navy SEALs (Sea, Air and Land Teams), a special operational force, on the Ever Given container ship stranded in Egypt’s Suez. Channel for almost a week. The U.S. Navy confirmed to Reuters that this claim was untrue. Reuters found no evidence that this happened. One of the photos used as alleged evidence is actually of asylum seekers on a ship in Australia in 2001.
Some of the posts (here, here, here), apparently linked to the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, show screenshots and links to an article that appears on various websites (here, here, here) titled ‘Trafficked Children’ , Bodies, weapons found on evergreen ship blocking Suez Canal. ”
The article claims: ‘More than a thousand people and people killed were rescued by shipowners in the Suez Canal by US Navy Seals. […] The containers were on an Evergreen Corporation ship that blocked the canal from Tuesday. March 23 to Mon March 29. […] The Seals also found weapons of mass destruction on the six-story floor. “Other reports contain photos that they say show children found on the Evergreen ship, linking it to Hillary Clinton (graphic warning here, here).
The reports were written in response to news on March 23 of the 400-meter-long Ever Given container ship, chartered by the company Evergreen Line, which runs along the beach and blocks the Suez Canal (here). The boat was propelled on March 29 (here) so that the journey could resume through the corridor, this is where about 30% of the global container traffic flows annually (here).
In response to the allegations in social media reports and articles, Capt. US Central Command spokesman Bill Urban told Reuters in an email: “There is no truth in the rumor.”
One of the photos used as alleged evidence, seen here and here, is an image of the Australian Associated Press (AAP) taken in 2001, which is visible here on the AAP website. The photo actually shows asylum seekers aboard the Norwegian cargo ship MV Tampa, anchored off Christmas Island, an Australian area in the Indian Ocean (here).
Reuters found no evidence of the allegations in credible news reports.
A spokesman for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) (here), the United Nations agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping, told Reuters in an email: “I can confirm that the IMO has no knowledge. of any information that supports any allegations the Ever Given is linked to human trafficking. ‘
Ayan Ahmed, communications specialist at Polaris, a non-profit human trafficking organization that operates the U.S. national human trafficking hotline and works with the IMO and other partners (here), also emailed Reuters: “I can confirm that the US National Human Trafficking Hotline has not received any reports of possible trade aboard the Ever Given. “
An Evergreen Line spokesman told Reuters in an email: “As one of the largest container ships in the world, the Ever Given is capable of transporting up to 20,000 standard 20-foot containers.” Its contents, according to them, contain a variety of goods and it states “unequivocally that no given nuclear material or devices are transported by Ever Given” and that “Evergreen Line categorically denies that they are engaging in illegal activities of any kind.”
The article and the reports also claim that the ship was co-owned by the Clinton Foundation. However, a spokesman for the Clinton Foundation confirmed by email in a previous fact-checking to Reuters that the foundation does not own any ships.
Other fact-checkers have published articles exposing the conspiracy over alleged ties between Clinton and Ever Given here and here.
Reuters had earlier brought the allegations that Ever Given carried nuclear weapons here, or here to the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki.
VERDICT
Untrue. Navy confirmed to Reuters that they did not strike and rescue children from the Ever Given ship. A photo used as alleged evidence shows asylum seekers in Australia in 2001. International organizations have not received any evidence of human trafficking from this ship. The Clinton Foundation said they do not own any ships.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.