America’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, has left the Middle East and is at a Greek port. The Department of War says the ship sustained damage from a laundry fire.
President Donald Trump ordered the Ford aircraft carrier strike group to relocate from Latin America, where it was involved in operations against Venezuela, to the Middle East. During the transit to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Ford experienced several problems with the sewage system.
Some reports said the system failed because soldiers flushed shirts down the toilets, suggesting an attempt to sabotage the vessel. For the first week of the conflict, the Ford was positioned off the Israeli coast to help defend against Iranian attacks.
However, the ship sustained a fire in the laundry room last week, injuring two service members. The Ford is now in a Greek port for repairs. Daniel Schneiderman, director of global policy programs at Penn Washington, told AFP that the Ford’s absence in the Middle East could limit America’s ability to defend Israel from Iranian missiles.
“Taking the Ford off the board for any significant length of time means less US support to war efforts,” he explained. “The Ford’s role in the defence of Israel is significant.”
The vessel’s return to port leaves just one US aircraft carrier in the region, the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln and the warships in its strike group are positioned in the Indian Ocean.
