The 800 tonnes of water, food and medical supplies came in aboard the British navy landing ship RFA Sir Galahad, escorted by two US ships and helicopters.

It was met by a phalanx of media brought in from neighbouring Kuwait, and by Australian, British, and US personnel who have been working to ready the port since the capture of Umm Qasr on Tuesday.

Britain and the United States are keen to publicise the humanitarian aid measures they are taking in a bid to counter criticism of their war on Iraq and to win the Iraqi people over to their side.

A British officer in charge of Friday's delivery, Major General Albert Whitley, admitted that "perhaps" the delay in getting the supplies into port was costly.

"But I think we're now getting our message out," he said.

Drinking water was the principal necessity brought in. Around one million litres (260,000 gallons) of bottled water were aboard.

Much of the cargo was supplied by Kuwait.

"This is the first boat of many. It is very important that the humanitarian aid comes in," said the head of Kuwait's state Humanitarian Operations Centre, Ali Al-Mu'min, who was also on the pier to greet the Sir Galahad.

A British logisitics officer, Colonel Paul Ash, said many more aid deliveries would follow, adding that he hoped commercial freighters would be docking in Umm Qasr within 30 days.

"I understand there are two Australian ships already on the way, each with 50,000 tonnes of grain," he said.

Ash said British military engineers had Friday also completed building a water pipeline from Kuwait to the former UN compound in Umm Qasr, which would supplement the aid shipments brought in by the coalition forces and Kuwait.

The priority after establishing a regular water supply was to reconnect the electricity to the port and to the town, to speed unloading with the giant waterside cranes and with a limited freight railway that was in the process of being made operational, he said.

Although some of the boxes being unloaded off the Sir Galahad would be distributed to Umm Qasr's impoverished 40,000 people Saturday, the bulk was going to be stored and sorted in a warehouse for delivery to other regions further north, behind the advancing coalition troops.

British officers said security of the aid was of concern. Coalition commanders holding centres in southern Iraq would have to guard the aid and do their best to prevent some of it finding its way on the black market.

The need to re-employ the former dock workers to see through the task -- at a normal pay rate of around 25 cents a day -- also posed another problem.

The danger of suicide bombers trying to get past the tough security at the entrance of the port to carry out attacks "is a real risk, a very real concern," Ash said.

There was also little desire for the British military to keep control of the humanitarian aid operations.

"Initially, we in the military are going to have to do this. But eventually we hope the United Nations, the World Food Programme and UNICEF are going to come in and do it properly," Whitley said.

WAR.WIRE