US Army ships that are heading for Gaza to build a temporary pier or floating dock have arrived in Crete, according to vessel-tracking websites. The ships left Fort Eustis on the James River on March 12 and had to make their way across the Atlantic Ocean.
The US ordered the ships to head to the coast of Gaza because of the humanitarian crisis in March after a stampede broke out near a convoy of trucks, leading to numerous deaths. Today Israel has opened a new northern crossing to Gaza and much of the humanitarian situation has improved and more trucks are crossing to Gaza.
The armada of ships includes five US Army watercraft, including the USAV James A. Loux (LSV-6), USAV Montorrey (LCU-2030), USAV Matamoros (LCU-2026), USAV General Frank S. Besson Jr. (LSV-1) and USAV Wilson Wharf (LCU-2011). They traveled down the Chesapeake Bay and then headed south along the coast of the Carolinas before heading to the open ocean passing Bermuda, and arriving off the coast of Spain and Africa.
The ships are part of the US Army’s 7th Transportation Brigade of the 18th Airborne Corps. Back in March, US Central Command said the ships “from the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis en route to the Eastern Mediterranean to establish a roll-on, roll-off dock capability that allows the ship to shore humanitarian assistance to Gaza. SP4 James A. Loux, Monterrey, Matamoros, and Wilson Warf are carrying equipment and supplies needed to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies.”
According to the Vessel Finder website, the ships are now moored at the Crete Naval Base in Souda Bay. These include the USAV Matamoros, USAV James A. Loux, USAV Monterrey, and USAV General Frank S. Besson Jr. The USAV Wilson’s Wharf, however, appears to still be in the Atlantic Ocean at the Canary Islands in a port near Tenerife. It’s not clear why it is lagging behind or if it was dispatched for a different mission.
US naval base in Crete
The Crete naval base includes the US Naval Support Activity (NSA) at Souda Bay which is located near the Hellenic (Greek) Air Force Base near the village of Mouzouras. According to Military.com this site “occupies an area of approximately 110 acres on the north side of the air base, which is home of the Hellenic Air Force’s 115th Combat Wing flying F-16 aircraft.
They are physically located on the large, circular shaped Akrotiri Peninsula, which forms the northern face of the Souda Harbor.” This is “an operational ashore installation which enables and supports US, Allied, Coalition, and Partner nation forces to preserve security and stability in the European, African, and Central Command areas of responsibility,” according to the site.
The Crete Naval Base has facilities for the Hellenic Navy and also NATO. It is also called the Souda Naval Base and is the second largest base of the Hellenic navy and one of the key NATO bases in the Eastern Mediterranean. The area is near the picturesque city of Chania in Crete, one of the island’s most beautiful sites. Chania has a 14th century Venetian harbor and has an old town that includes shopping and enjoyable restaurants. It’s not clear how long the US army ships will remain in port in Souda.
It also remains to be seen whether the temporary floating dock or pier is still necessary in Gaza. Nevertheless the voyage of the American armada has been an important logistical trial to see how these ships can cross oceans and bring essential capabilities to a conflict zone. If they do arrive off Gaza this will provide much-needed training in a real time crisis to test out the US and partner country methods in creating a logistical life line.
Some of the issues facing this mission have been made more complicated by the killing of seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen on April 1. This caused WCK and the UAE to pause support for the maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, which had been offloading goods to a pier the IDF constructed that abuts the Netzarim corridor.
It is not clear the status of this corridor today but it is expected to return to service. The Spanish ship Open Arms which was working with the humanitarians is still in Cyprus, after it returned to Cyprus on April 2 carrying tons of goods that could not be offloaded due to the killing of the humanitarians.
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