First aid ship to Gaza leaves Cyprus carrying 200 tonnes of food

A ship carrying about 200 tons of food sailed from a port in Cyprus early Tuesday in a first test launch of a new sea route to deliver aid to residents of the Gaza Strip.

The rescue ship (Open Arms) was seen sailing from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, towing a barge containing about 200 tons of flour, rice and proteins.

Today, the World Central Kitchen relief organization announced the departure of the ship from Cyprus to Gaza.

Added in a statement on the “X” platform, “We are working to send the largest number of maritime aid in cooperation with Cyprus and the Emirates.”

The Cypriot government announced yesterday that the ship was scheduled to depart within hours for Gaza, noting that there were “technical problems that hindered its launch

A government spokesman said that the exact time of launch would not be announced “for security reasons.”

Before that, an American charitable foundation announced that it was loading aid for Gaza on a ship in Cyprus, which will be the first shipment sent to the war-torn sector, through a sea corridor that the European Commission hopes to open at the end of this week.