Update: It didn’t sink, and it’s not leaking oil. Read more here. There are serious concerns about whether the Navy can maintain logistics.
The same people who surrendered Afghanistan, Biden, Harris, and all their incompetent staff are in charge. Our US Merchant Marine Fleet operates under the auspices of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), which belongs to the Department of Transportation and comes under Pothole Pete’s authority. That brings us to the latest idiocy.
The Navy’s only oiler in the Mid-East is sinking.
Military.com:
The Navy oiler Big Horn sustained damage while operating off the coast of Oman on Monday, with reports that the Military Sealift Command vessel suffered flooding and damage to its rudder post.
…
“It would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause of damage at this time,” the official said. “All crew members are safe, and we are assessing the situation right now.”
The Big Horn had been refueling and resupplying ships in the Abraham Lincoln Strike Group. The strike group arrived in the Middle East in August, joining the Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group as tensions have risen following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas.
First reported on the gCaptain forum and by maritime historian Sal Mercogliano, a leaked video and photos show damage to the ship’s rudder post and water flooding into a mechanical space.
As we are on the verge of a two-front war, we notice we have neglected our military, but we’re good on pronouns.
Apparently, it is our only oiler operating in the Middle East per Military.com:
The Big Horn is the only Navy oiler operating in the Middle East. According to MarineTraffic, an app that provides real-time and approximate locations for maritime vessels worldwide, seven ships in the class currently operate in U.S. waters, five are in the Pacific area of operations, and one is near Italy.
The USNS John Lewis was last reported in Portland, Oregon, while the Harvey Milk, also a Lewis-class tanker, is in Norfolk, Virginia.
It’s not looking good. I’ve been told by a shipowner the Navy does not have a spare oiler to deploy and is scrambling to find a commercial oil tanker to refuel the Abraham Lincoln carrier group.
Updates over at gCaptain forum: https://t.co/nNG6uSYGJJ https://t.co/wGP2GTYyAw pic.twitter.com/ec2oN3CpSf
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) September 24, 2024
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