The Danish subsidiary of Germany’s MAN Energy Solutions supplied engines, equipment and training for the Myanmar navy’s flagship during the Rohingya genocide, Danish newspaper Politiken revealed on Sunday.
Working with activist group Justice for Myanmar (JFM), Politiken found that MAN’s Copenhagen branch delivered two engines and other equipment for the UMS Moattama, a Landing Platform Dock (LPD) ship, in 2018.
“Even before 2018, it was forbidden to export or support parts or engines for military systems [in Myanmar]. So, I can’t understand how this sale could be approved from the Danish side,” Siemon Wezeman, an expert in EU arms sanctions at Sweden’s Research Institute Sipri, told Politiken.
The Danish newspaper’s exposé on Sunday triggered the Denmark parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee to ask for an investigation.
The development comes on top of existing criminal investigations by South Korean and German police into the 2019 transfer of the warship from its South Korean shipbuilders to Myanmar.
In October 2022, Korean police launched a probe into Posco International, Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering, and the Ministry of Defence over alleged violations of Korea’s Foreign Trade Act in connection with the warship’s sale.
In July this year, the German state prosecutor in Augsburg launched a criminal investigation into MAN Energy Solutions over allegations that it supplied key components to the UMS Moattama in violation of Germany’s Foreign Trade Law and European Union Dual Use Regulations.
UMS Moattama has boosted the military’s capacity to move troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers and other equipment to support its ongoing campaign of terror against the civilian and armed resistance.
Since the 2021 coup, the UMS Moattama has reportedly been deployed to transport troops, rocket systems and heavy artillery to Rakhine State. The warship was also used in the junta’s Sea Shield Military Exercises in April 2021 and July 2022.
In Denmark, the Foreign Affairs Committee is now calling on the Justice Ministry and the state Defense Material and Procurement Agency (FMI) to explain how they allowed a Danish company to sell engines and equipment to the largest warship in Myanmar’s navy.
Justice For Myanmar’s Ma Yadanar Maung said it was appalling that MAN Energy Solutions supplied the propulsion system for Myanmar’s flagship warship, with the approval of Danish authorities, at the same time as the military was committing genocide against the Rohingya.
She welcomed the criminal investigations by South Korean and German authorities as positive steps.
“And we urge Danish authorities to follow suit with a full investigation into how export approval was granted, and the actions of MAN Energy Solutions. South Korea, Germany and Denmark must show that breaches of the law will not be tolerated,” she said.
