United States (US) Military Sealift Command (MSC) ships conduct frequent port visits to various partner countries in the region

Last week US Navy underway re­plenishment oiler US Naval Ship Rappahannock (T-AO 204), called into the Port of Suva for a brief port stopover. The vessel was in Suva for four days.

The vessel is operated by MSC to support ships of the US Navy as they travel all over the world.

MSC Far East public affairs offic­ers Grady Fontana, based in Singa­pore, says MSC ships conduct fre­quent port visits to various partner countries in the region.

“USNS Rappahannock (T-AO 204) has been conducting routine opera­tions in the US Navy Seventh Fleet area of operation, which is in the In­do-Pacific region,” Mr Fontana said.

“The ship provides fuel and sup­plies replenishment to other ships at sea while underway,” he said.

Mr Fontana said they cannot dis­close any further information on the ship’s movements.

“As policy, we don’t discuss ship movements,” he said.

USNS Rappahannock is a Henry J Kaiser-class underway replenish­ment oiler operated by MSC.

MSC conducts hundreds of re­plenishments-at-sea every year sup­porting the US Navy and partner nations.

Despite a vast experience in Seis­mic Replenishment at Sea (RAS) operations, the procedure is inher­ently dangerous according to Mr Fontana.

MSC operates approximately 115 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish US Navy ships, conducts specialised missions, stra­tegically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed US forces and coalition partners