Barges filled with shipping containers of food and water have set off from Eddystone, bound for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, writes Linda Loyd for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Crews of dockworkers have been working around the clock to load the prepackaged supplies. Tractor-trailers containing bottled water and ready-to-eat meals started arriving to the privately owned Penn Terminals on the Delaware River last week.

Crowley Maritime usually operates nine barges on its Puerto Rico service between Philadelphia and other ports on the East Coast. Now, according to spokesman David DeCamp, the company has “added an additional six.”

Since the reopening of the Port of San Juan on Sept. 23, Crowley Maritime has handled around 4,100 relief loads at its Delaware County terminal. The company also has bookings for more than 3,100 container loads of government relief cargo that will be delivered to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Croix.

Each barge – carrying supplies such as cereal, breakfast bars, and ready-to-eat meals in lightweight packaging – will take seven days to reach the Port of San Juan.

“It’s stuff that does not need refrigeration and has a very long shelf life,” said Penn Terminals CEO John Brennan.

Read more about the relief efforts in the Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.