The flotilla sent by a collective of Malaysian NGOs to deliver aid to Rohingya communities in Rakhine State has been delayed by strong currents and winds.
The flotilla was originally scheduled to arrive in Yangon at 10:30pm on February 8. It is now expected to arrive at 10:30am on February 9.
“Before this we could travel at eight to 8.5 knots. But now, we have fallen to seven knots,” mission leader Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim told The Star.
On Monday, a GPS reading indicated that Nautical Aliya, the vessel carrying the aid materials, was cruising international waters near a Thai island toward Myanmar.
Abdul Azeez told The Star that 200 tons of aid cargo will be dropped off in Yangon. This will include 10,000 hygiene kits, 50,000 large boxes of instant noodle packets and 12,000 small mineral water bottles.
The cargo is expected to take three hours to unload in Yangon.
After its stop in Yangon, the Nautical Aliya was originally meant to Teknaf, Bangladesh, where most of its cargo – around 2,300 tons of food, medicines and other essential goods – would be distributed to Rohingya refugees in camps nearby. However, the Bangladeshi government announced yesterday that the ship is too large for the Teknaf port and would have to dock at St Martin Island, Kutubdia or Chittagong ports.
Around 70,000 Rohingyas have fled a military crackdown in Rakhine State to Bangladesh since October.
The flotilla was organized by organised by 1Malaysia Putra Club and the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organisation, with the cooperation of Turkiye Diyanet Vakfi Foundation from Turkey.
The ship left the Straits of Malacca and entered the Andaman Sea on Sunday night. Yesterday, it was approached by a Myanmar Navy reconnaissance ship, which will escort the Nautical Aliya to Yangon.
