Humanitarian access
US ship carrying components for port construction underway off Gaza
March 10, 2024, 1:58 p.m
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US President Biden announces the construction of a temporary pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip to bring more aid supplies to the Palestinians. 36 hours later, the first US ship with material sets sail.
A first ship carrying equipment for the floating port on the coast of the Gaza Strip announced by US President Joe Biden has set off for the Mediterranean. The “General Frank S. Besson” left a base in Virginia on Saturday (local time), the US Central Command announced on X. The ship left “less than 36 hours” after Biden’s announcement.
According to the Pentagon, it could take up to 60 days to build the pier with the help of about 1,000 soldiers – none of whom are scheduled to go ashore. Biden wants to use the floating port to significantly increase aid deliveries to the people of the Gaza Strip in order to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there. After more than five months of war, hunger is spreading among the 2.3 million inhabitants of the coastal area. The situation is worst in the north of the Gaza Strip, which has been sealed off by the Israeli armed forces for months and has been cut off from aid deliveries for a long time.
Israel has welcomed the planned maritime corridor and is expected to check cargo destined for the Gaza Strip in Cyprus before ships take them from there to the Gaza Strip. The EU, the United Arab Emirates and other countries also support the planned maritime corridor for aid supplies.
Enough help?
A ship from the Spanish aid organization Open Arms was waiting in Cyprus and was supposed to use the corridor for the first time. According to Open Arms founder Oscar Camps, it will tow a barge with 200 tons of flour and rice to an undisclosed location, which should take two to three days. It is unclear how aid delivered by sea will safely reach land before the US pier is built. Gaza has no functioning port and the surrounding waters are too shallow for large ships.
The aid organization World Central Kitchen, which was involved in the planned operation, wrote on The sea route is intended to complement the dropping of aid from aircraft, which is considered expensive and inefficient. But according to aid organizations, even this will not be enough to replace missing overland deliveries.