On three guided-missile destroyers tied up side by side at Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin yesterday, long lines of crew members, stripped to the waist, passed cartons of supplies along the decks in preparation for their deployment in a multinational force in East Timor this weekend.
As the ships, one each from Australia, New Zealand and Britain, got ready to slip out through Van Diemen Gulf for the 24-hour journey to Dili, the advance party of Australia's 4,500-strong contingent was also preparing for action at an airbase outside Darwin.
They will fly by Hercules aircraft to East Timor, possibly to establish an advanced base for co-operation with Indonesian troops.
Such collaboration is mandated under paragraphs 4 and 5 of yesterday's unanimous UN Security Council resolution authorising a multinational force to take "all necessary measures" to end the violence in East Timor.
Describing itself as "appalled" by the worsening humanitarian situation in the territory, the 15-member council mandated the force to restore peace and security, to facilitate humanitarian assistance and to enable the UN mission to resume its operations there.
Capt John King of the British destroyer, HMS Glasgow, said his 270-member crew received the news that they were going into action with "mixed emotions". They had read all the terrible reports from East Timor and "if there was the remotest possibility of relieving suffering they would want to do that," he told reporters in the officers' mess.
As well as a high-speed naval catamaran moored alongside capable of carrying 500 fully equipped troops, a fleet of six frigates and two other guided-missile destroyers assembled offshore for Australia's biggest and most dangerous military mission since the Vietnam War when it lost 501 soldiers in combat.
As it prepares to take the lead in the mission at the request of the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, the Australian media are cheering it on, but now that the signal to go has been given, the country is suddenly bracing for possible casualties.
The Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, warned on television: "All military operations carry risk, and I've never tried to disguise those risks, and I have said to the Australian public quite candidly that there could be casualties. It's a very dangerous situation."
Australia expects a significant element of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) forces to take part in the force. Countries supplying troops include Malaysia, Fiji, the Philippines, South Korea, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Britain, Canada, France, Argentina and New Zealand.
China's UN ambassador, Mr Shen Guofang, said his country would send civilian police. The Australian leader said he hoped that Indonesia would co-operate with the expected 8,000-strong international military force.
"It will also be necessary, and I am hoping it will be forthcoming, that there will be, in the initial stage at least, co-operation between multinational forces and forces of the Indonesian army," Mr Howard said.
The biggest danger is expected to come from pro-Jakarta militias who maintain a threatening posture despite Indonesia's official, if extremely reluctant, welcome for the international force.
A spokeswoman for President B.J. Habibie of Indonesia warned yesterday in Jakarta that Australian troops could be singled out for militia attacks. "There is a very strong feeling of animosity towards Australia, rightly or wrongly, from the pro-integration forces in East Timor," Ms Dewi Fortuna Anwar said.
In the West Timor town of Atambua, a militia leader, Mr Filomeno Kornai, told reporters: "the PPI (Command of the Pro-Integration Struggle) will eat the hearts of those that come to East Timor."
The Security Council resolution was drafted by the UK and adopted after a round-the-clock session. It invoked the mandatory provisions of Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which authorises the use of force while not setting up a UN force.
The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alatas, told the council that it was "imperative that the multinational force conduct itself in an impartial manner so that its presence in East Timor will be credible." The Portuguese Foreign Minister, Mr Jaime Gama, said, however, that the sole precondition for the force was to "respond to the shocking situation on the ground" in East Timor.
The World Food Programme (WPF) expects to use a South African aircraft to make food drops to starving refugees in the East Timor mountains. The Australian aid agency AusAid said yesterday it hoped to begin dropping food and medical supplies to East Timorese hiding in mountains outside Dili within the next 24 hours, but admitted security was still a problem.