After Addressing Technical Issues, Ships in the Global Sumud Flotilla Will Resume Their Journey to Gaza
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MARMARIS – The Global Sumud Flotilla committee has announced that the humanitarian fleet heading to Gaza will temporarily make two technical stops. This is to address several urgent needs on their ships.
In an official statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla communications team stated that the temporary halt is to repair Starlink devices, ship engines, and the ships’ rigging systems.
The committee affirmed that the stops are purely technical and not related to any other activities on land.
“Legally, it is important to emphasise that no one will disembark. These are only brief technical stops,” the committee stated.
They explained that the fleet is divided into two groups during the repair process.
The first group consists of ships with issues with their Starlink devices. These ships are moving together with a tactical ship towards Greek waters to carry out repairs.
Meanwhile, the second group, consisting of other ships, is heading to Turkish waters to assist with repairs to the rigging and engine systems of the Girolama ship.
The committee stated that all repairs are targeted to be completed by the end of today. The humanitarian fleet is scheduled to resume its voyage on Saturday afternoon local time before rejoining the journey to Gaza.
Meanwhile, Republika journalist Thoudy Badai, who is on board the Ozgurluk ship, reported that the weather is clear during the Global Sumud voyage. However, the waves in the Mediterranean Sea are quite high, causing some passengers to experience seasickness. A rotating watch system is in place on the ships to anticipate potential interceptions by Israel.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international solidarity fleet carrying humanitarian aid and political support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amidst the ongoing blockade and Israeli aggression.
Approximately 500 volunteers on around 50 ships are part of the fleet. They departed from Marmaris in Turkey on Thursday after a previous group, which was intercepted by Israeli forces, arrived.