Royal Navy landing ship RFA Cardigan Bay to support international effo…

RFA Cardigan Bay will support the US military personnel by providing temporary offshore accommodation as they build a new temporary pier to deliver aid directly into Gaza. (UK MoD/Crown Copyright)

The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Bay-class landing ship dock auxiliary (LSD(A)) vessel Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Cardigan Bay (L 3009) has been deployed to the coast of Gaza where it will provide support to US military building a new temporary floating pier that will facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into the country directly by sea, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.

Cardigan Bay , which is en route to Gaza from Cyprus, will provide temporary offshore accommodation for personnel working on the offshore pier project, the MoD said.

The initiative will enable cargo ships to deliver pre-screened aid from Cyprus directly to the pier, where it will be loaded onto trucks to transfer across Gaza. It forms part of wider international efforts to expand the delivery of aid into Gaza and will complement efforts to get more aid in via land routes and the Port of Ashdod.

US military vessels, including USNS Benavidez, and personnel from the US Army's 7th Transportation Brigade at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, and Naval Beach Group 1 at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California, have already started initial work on the 72×240 ft pier and an approximately 1,800 ft long causeway, which are expected to be operational in early May, according to US defence officials. Once construction at sea is complete, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) engineering unit will receive the pier on the shore in Gaza.