Spanish NGO Open Arms ship docks at Malaga Port before departing for Cuba on humanitarian mission

They arrived at the Port of Malaga at 4am on Tuesday. When SUR came aboard the NGO Open Arms ship, Astral, the crew and the volunteers were already awake, enjoying the city's sunshine and having coffee.

This, for them, is a brief pause before they set to clean the vessel and leave it spotless ahead of the La Farola press conference. They are in Malaga to present their humanitarian mission in Cuba.

Astral departed from Barcelona on 9 May, then made a stop in Sagunto because the Port of Valencia refused them permission to dock. The authorities said there was no space due to construction.

The ship is now moored in the capital of the Costa del Sol, a stone's throw from the city centre. This prime location brings their mission closer to the wider population.

Speaking to SUR, Esther Camps said that her goal is to use her small platform to raise awareness and encourage solidarity with the Cuban people, who are suffering from constant power outages.

Open Arms is primarily dedicated to rescuing migrants at sea. In Cuba, Camps said, they will also contribute to saving lives: they want to raise a total of 100,000 euros to buy solar panels so that a children's hospital in Havana can become energy self-sufficient.

They have already raised 70,000, even though they couldn't promote the campaign in Sagunto, because they had to stop at a difficult-to-access industrial port.

The crew will be in Malaga on Tuesday and Wednesday. The ship is open to the public from 5pm to 7pm. In addition, on Wednesday, the crew will participate in the solidarity event ¡Rompamos el bloqueo! (Let's Break the Blockade!), in Plaza de la Marina at 7pm.

The voyage of the Astral ship is part of a campaign that denounces the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed against Cuba.

"People are very supportive, the reception has been very good," Esther Camps said.

Camps told SUR about previous missions in which the NGO has participated: sending 200 tonnes of food to Gaza, supporting Ukraine, humanitarian flights, in addition to the important rescues in the middle of the sea, which are the defining characteristics of the NGO.

Astral has its own story. It was a luxury sailboat entrepreneur Livio Lo Monaco donated when he learnt about Open Arms, founded by Óscar Camps.

Open Arms adapted the vessel, primarily to use it for sea rescues. Its role in this mission is fundamentally symbolic and aimed at raising awareness, because the solar panels won't fit on the ship. It will be much more practical to buy them closer to the Caribbean island.

There are currently eight people aboard the ship, although it has room for eleven. "The hardest part is living together. We're all from different backgrounds, we have to share cabins, we have to organise the work, the shifts... Now, making stops is more fun, because people visit us, but then the days get longer," Esther Camps said.

After stops in Cadiz and the Canary Islands, the voyage to Cuba, which will begin sometime in the first half of June, will last more than 20 days.

Captain Savvas Kourepinis is the most important person aboard, though chef Lorenzo Torrini comes close, as he prepares wonderful salads, delicious pasta and also meat dishes, because the crew are very carnivorous.

Astral's current crew speak a variety of languages: Catalan, English, Italian and Spanish.