The Second Ship Transports Aid To Gaza From Flour To Canned Tuna Weighing 300 Tons

Preparation for humanitarian assistance for Gaza by WCK on the Open Arms ship. (Twitter/@WCKitchen)

JAKARTA - The second ship carrying food aid to Gaza is carrying out a congenital loading in Cyprus, the charity that organized the mission said on Thursday, when the first ship in a maritime shipping test approached the trapped Palestinian enclave.

World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it was loading 300 tons of food aid to a ship at the port of Larnaca, including nuts, canned tuna, vegetables, rice and flour.

"Our palette had to be inspected and loaded at the end of the day of Cyprus," WCK said in a statement.

Cyprus is examining aid cargo on the island in a process involving Israel to eliminate security checks at the purpose of the demolition, officials said.

Earlier, an Open Arms ship that pulled a barge carrying nearly 200 tonnes of food aid for Gaza leaving Cyprus on Tuesday, mapped a new route to deliver emergency supplies to residents who, according to humanitarian agencies, were at risk of starvation after more than five months of war.

WCK, which works closely with United Arab Emirates and Spain Proactiva Open Arms with support from the Cypriot Government, said it would not provide details of the trip for security reasons.

The charity is preparing a dock in Gaza to receive nearly 60 meters long aid, WCK founder Jose Andres said in a post on X on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile in Nicosia, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said a high-level meeting would be held on March 21 to coordinate further distribution of aid.

Foreign Minister Kombos previously also said that the second ship, "with a larger capacity" than Open Arms, would be able to leave Larnaca "after loading and unloading" the first ship.

"If there are no problems, we have lined up for the next departure," he said, quoted by The National News.

WCK said its initiative had nothing to do with larger multinational efforts to build maritime aid corridors to Gaza.