Sean Griffin, chief operations manager for Ocean Logistics, the Vanuatu-based tug and barge company that bought the Warringa, said the bags and boxes were unloaded last Thursday.

“Just to keep you updated, yesterday we unloaded the donations from the mighty Warringa and have stored them in a locked room on my plantation,” Mr Griffin said on Friday.

“My house girls over the next 10 days will unpack and repack the donations into eight lots, therefore allowing a balanced mix of clothing and donated items to be evenly distributed over the forthcoming months,” he said.

The Warringa is currently berthed on the island of Espiritu Santo.

Cyclone Pam - a category 5 cyclone - hit Vanuatu in March last year, destroying or damaging an estimated 80-90 per cent of buildings and leaving 75,000 residents in need of emergency shelter.

The appeal for clothes, school equipment, medical supplies and other items such as tarpaulins was launched two months ago by Eden’s tug master Chris Timms and Svitzer marine manager for Eden Steve Heffernan after Mr Griffin alerted them to the ongoing plight of the people.  

Warringa, a 40-tonne bollard pull, 29-metre vessel, arrived in Eden in January 1992 and served as the Port of Eden’s tug until she was officially replaced by the Gloucester last month.