Spanish aid ship sets sail for maiden voyage of Cyprus-Gaza maritime corridor

A charity ship carrying about 200 tonnes of food destined for Gaza departed from a port in Cyprus early yesterday for the first delivery through a new maritime aid corridor.

Spanish NGO Open Arms, which operates the vessel, said on social media that “the maritime humanitarian corridor to the strip is opened, in a highly complex mission that we trust will be the first of many”.

The vessel sailed out of Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing flour, rice and other food.

For this operation, Open Arms is co-operating with US charity World Central Kitchen.

The shipment is a test run before the opening of the sea corridor, which was planned in November last year by Cyprus and organised in co-operation with the UAE, US, EU and Britain.

When the ship reaches Gaza, two smaller vessels will tow it to a jetty that World Central Kitchen is building, organisers said. The charity will then distribute the food through the 60 kitchens it operates across the enclave.

The jetty is separate from the aid pier announced by the White House last week.

“Our goal is to establish a maritime highway of boats and barges stocked with millions of meals continuously headed towards Gaza,” said World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and chief executive Erin Gore.

Cypriot President Nikos

Christodoulides said the inaugural voyage is “one of hope and humanity” and would provide a “lifeline to civilians”.

In a social media post, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen thanked Mr Christodoulides for setting up the aid corridor.

“The departure of the first ship is a sign of hope. We will work hard together for many more ships to follow,” she said. “We will do everything in our power for aid to reach Palestinians.”

The shipment, if successful, would effectively signal the first easing of an Israeli naval blockade imposed on Gaza in 2007 after Hamas took control of the Palestinian enclave.

The 320km journey to Gaza is estimated to take up to two days due to the heavy barge. A regular vessel would reach the enclave in 15 hours.

The US military said its vessel, the Gen Frank S Besson, was also on the way to Gaza carrying humanitarian relief.

The Open Arms vessel was originally set to depart on Sunday, with aid workers saying they were “ready to go”.

But it was delayed for “technical reasons”, media in Cyprus reported.

Cyprus has said its maritime corridor will offer a fast-track workaround to getting aid delivered where needed.

Israel says it approves of the sea route to Gaza as long as the cargo undergoes security checks. Cyprus has said all necessary permits are already in place, hopefully eliminating delays in delivery.