Prime Minister Paul Martin was dockside in Halifax as three Canadian warships and a Coast Guard vessel set sail for New Orleans Tuesday. The ships are packed with relief supplies for the disaster-stricken city.

The ships, which are due to arrive at the U.S. Gulf Coast by the end of the week, are carrying at least 1,000 Canadian Forces personnel as well as water, food and blankets to help in the hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Martin praised the people of Nova Scotia for helping the mission get underway.

"I've got to say that as Canadians, we can feel very, very good about what our forces have done and what the people of Nova Scotia have done," the prime minister said in an interview Tuesday with CTV Newsnet.

Earlier, as the ships prepared to sail, Martin told the Canadian task force that Canada was built by "neighbours helping neighbours in times of crisis."

"That doesn't only apply within our border, that applies every bit outside our borders and that is your mission."

And U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins added his thanks to Canadians for their support.

"On behalf of my grateful country thank you for giving us your best when we need you the most," he said. "Once again Canada is coming to our rescue."

"Human spirit at its best is more forceful than any storm."

Sailors, army engineers, communications experts and combat divers are crammed into every available space aboard the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan and the frigates HMCS Toronto and HMCS Ville de Quebec, along with the Coast Guard boat tender Sir William Alexander.

Commodore Dean McFadden, who is leading the Canadian task group, said the boats were taking essential supplies from a "first aid and hygiene perspective."

"Things like first aid kits ... personal toiletry items, tent units, cots... portable air conditioners to provide a degree of comfort," McFadden told CTV.

McFadden said there had been close contact with American forces to ensure the Canadian personnel would be safe when they began offloading supplies in New Orleans.

"With the protective measures that we will put in place I don't have any concerns that we will be able to ensure it's a safe environment," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan said aid from Canada likely will continue flowing for weeks.

"Quite clearly this is a human disaster of enormous proportions. We have tens and tens of thousands of displaced people across the United States," McLellan told a news conference.

Martin reiterated that that there will be more Canadian aid coming to the Americans down the road.

"I believe this will be a very long-term process," he told CTV Newsnet. "As I said to the president almost a week ago, look, whatever it is that you need, we have it. They're going to have it and we'll be there for as long as we're needed."

McLellan said the government isn't concerned at this point about tallying the cost of sending aid but it's in the tens of millions of dollars.

The air force is also sending three of its Sea King shipborne helicopters and crews for rescue work and transportation.

The Canadian ships will be joining one of the largest peacetime fleets ever assembled, some 35 U.S. Navy, coast guard and civilian vessels now moored off the Louisiana coast to rescue stranded New Orleans residents and to bring food, water and medical help to survivors of the hurricane.

Although the emphasis for now will be on basic supplies, as time goes on Canada could consider sending more sophisticated equipment, such as mobile hospitals.

The material is coming from stockpiles maintained by Canadian authorities as part of their own disaster preparedness plans.

As supplies and personnel make their way south, the effort continues to locate any Canadian tourists still stranded in the Gulf Coast.

American authorities have barred foreign diplomats from entering New Orleans because of transportation and security issues.

Dan McTeague, parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad, said Monday there are now nine Canadians unaccounted for, up from the previous estimate of five on Sunday.

That doesn't mean they're in danger or hurt -- they just haven't been tracked down. But McTeague said he feels upbeat. "Things have improved," he said.

No Canadian deaths have been reported, and McTeague said there don't appear to be any Canadians in the hardest-hit areas.