Ship loaded with aid heads for US-built Gaza pier

A crane loads food aid for Gaza onto a container ship docked in Cyprus (Petros Karadjias/AP)

The first aid ship bound for a US-built floating pier to be installed in Gaza has departed.

However, it is unclear when the corridor will be up and running, and humanitarian groups say there are still major obstacles to getting food to starving Palestinians in the war-ravaged enclave.