A SHIP carrying more than 2,700 tonnes of equipment, 100 vehicles and enough food and water to sustain 400 people for four months left Dublin port last night for Cameroon, from where it will be transported to landlocked Chad in preparation for the deployment of the main body of Irish troops taking part in an EU mission to the central African country.
Cargo including weapons, armoured vehicles, ammunition, air conditioners, beds, toilets, a doctor's surgery and night vision equipment was loaded on to the MV Zeranat the north quays at Dublin port yesterday morning. The Defence Forces described the operation as the biggest logistical move it had ever undertaken.
The Zeranwill sail first to the Netherlands, where vehicles and equipment for the 60 Dutch marines due to work with Irish troops in Chad will be loaded on to the vessel.
It will then travel to the port of Douala in Cameroon where it is expected to arrive between April 11th-13th.
The equipment will be transported overland to the Irish battalion's camp at Goz Beida in southeastern Chad - about 2,500km from the Cameroonian coast.
"The cargo includes everything the troops serving with the EUfor Chad/CAR mission need to live and operate for four months," Fergal Purcell, a spokesman for the Defence Forces, said.
Personnel from the Army's Ranger wing have been in Chad since February.
More than 400 Irish troops are due to take part in the Irish-led EU mission which has a UN mandate to protect civilians, including Darfuri refugees and displaced locals in eastern Chad.
The main body of troops is expected to deploy within the next few months.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael MEP Colm Burke will visit a number of camps sheltering refugees from the neighbouring Sudanese region of Darfur during a visit to Chad this week.
Mr Burke will report back to MEPs on the foreign affairs and human rights committees of the European Parliament on his return.
He said he hopes to encourage further political and financial support to help counter the growing humanitarian crisis in eastern Chad.Mr Burke said he is also keen to investigate the forced disappearances of a number of members of the Chadian opposition following a rebel offensive on its capital N'Djamena in early February.