A ship belonging to the Spanish charity Open Arm is expected to set sail this weekend for Gaza loaded with humanitarian aid.
The Spanish vessel, Open Arms, is scheduled to depart from Larnaca and hope to use a newly opened shipping route. The journey is expected to take three days.
“What initially appeared as an insurmountable challenge is now on the verge of realization,” read a post on Open Arms’ X account.
“Our tugboat stands prepared to embark at a moment’s notice, laden with tons of food, water, and vital supplies for Palestinian civilians.”
JRCC, Larnaka, Cyprus The President of the Republic, Mr Nikos Christodoulides, and the President of the European Commission, Ms Ursula von der Leyen, inspect the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.
However, with no functioning harbour and shallow waters, it is still uncertain where the ship will dock when it reaches Gaza.
The ship is expected to reach Gaza in the next few days.
According to reports, it will tow a barge loaded with 200 tonnes of food provided by US charity World Central Kitchen.
On Friday, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the immediate launch of a project to establish a maritime aid corridor from Cyprus to Gaza.
“We are now very close to opening this corridor, hopefully this Saturday-Sunday, and I’m very glad to see an initial pilot will be launched today,” she told journalists after visiting Cyprus’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center in the port city of Larnaca.
“We are launching this Cyprus maritime corridor together: the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States,” she added.
