A second ship with humanitarian aid is ready to depart by sea from Cyprus to Gaza, the island’s president said, after a first aid shipment landed few days ago offloading almost 200 tonnes of rice, flour, proteins and more. At the same time this shipment is transported ashore, the second vessel is preparing to set sail from Cyprus with hundreds more tonnes of food.
With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza becoming increasingly desperate, international players are scrambling to find alternative routes to supply aid.
“The first ship has started to return and we are ready to send the second ship with humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, said on Saturday March 16.
In his statements to journalists, at Vasilikos, and in response to a journalist’s remark that Cyprus is in the global spotlight because of the “Amalthea” initiative, the President of the Republic replied, “I am glad. It is an initiative of Cyprus. It is not my initiative. It is an initiative of our country, and I am glad that it is receiving its international recognition.
The humanitarian organisation World Central Kitchen said in the social media on Saturday that WCK’s Trish is at the port in Larnaca where final preparations are underway for the next shipment of aid to sail to Gaza.
The crew is boarding the support vessel that will accompany the aid and oversee the technical offloading process.
As it is reported by the organisation, they are also shipping a crane that will allow them to get the aid on shore and onto delivery trucks quicker.
The President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, also added in his statement on Saturday that “I am pleased about the international interest. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and I are receiving calls from many countries to further strengthen the aid.
“As I mentioned last night, our aim is to provide as much humanitarian aid as possible. In this context, we are working with several countries, apart from those that supported the Declaration and apart from the fact that some of them will visit Cyprus to see for themselves this humanitarian aid mission. A decision has been made to set up a special fund from countries that want to contribute financially to the purchase of humanitarian aid and I am glad that there is this international recognition and support.”
