First aid ship to Gaza leaves Cyprus port in pilot project

A ship carrying almost 200 tons of food to Gaza left a port in Cyprus early on Tuesday, part of a pilot project to open a new sea route for aid to a population widely believed to be on the brink of famine.

The charity ship Open Arms was seen sailing out of Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing flour, rice and protein.

The journey to Gaza takes about 15 hours, but a heavy tow barge could make the trip considerably longer, possibly up to 2 days. Cyprus is just over 200 miles (322 km) northwest of Gaza.

The mission, mostly funded by the United Arab Emirates, is being organized by US-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), while Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms supplies the ship.

"Our goal is to establish a maritime highway of boats and barges stocked with millions of meals continuously headed towards Gaza," said WCK founder Jose Andres and chief executive officer Erin Gore in a statement.

WCK says it has a further 500 tons of aid in Cyprus ready for dispatch.

Charity attempting to enter Gaza directly

The charities intend to take aid directly to Gaza, which has been sealed off from the outside world since Israel began its offensive in response to an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.

With the lack of port infrastructure, WCK has said it was creating a landing jetty in Gaza with material from destroyed buildings and rubble. It is a separate initiative from that announced by the US last week, which plans to build a temporary pier in the enclave to facilitate aid deliveries by sea.

Construction of the jetty was "well underway," WCK's Andres said in a post on X. "We may fail, but the biggest failure will not be trying!" he wrote, posting a picture of work with bulldozers apparently leveling out ground close to sea.

Tuesday's mission, 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.

With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza becoming increasingly desperate, international players are scrambling to find alternative routes to supply aid.

Cyprus said its maritime corridor offers a fast-track workaround to getting aid delivered where needed. Cargoes are to undergo security inspections in Cyprus by a team including personnel from Israel, eliminating the need for screenings at its final offloading point to remove potential hold-ups in aid deliveries.