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The Military Sealift Command (MSC) government owned tanker ship SS Petersburg (T-AOT-9101) will participate in Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise 2019 off the coast of San Diego, Calif.
Anchored off the Silver Strand, Petersburg will conduct an up to twelve degree list that will allow a single-anchor leg mooring (SALM) buoy to deployed from the ship into the water and to connect to an offshore petroleum discharge system (OPDS), that will then deliver fuel, via hoses, to shore.
The OPDS allows fuel to be delivered to areas where conventional methods may not be a viable solution such as during a military operation or in the aftermath of a natural disaster where local infrastructure has been damaged or a beach is inaccessible by conventional methods.
During the exercise, Petersburg crew, along with members of the Military Sealift Command Pacific (MSCPAC) team will work in tandem with Navy Seabees from Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, and Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One. The exercise will provide effective training; ensuring forces are capable, interoperable, and deployable on short notice. In addition, working together across the commands increases the ability of all participants to plan, communicate and conduct complex amphibious and expeditionary combat support operations. These same skills would be critical to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.
“We are very excited to be a part of AECE 2019,” said Capt. Gabe Varela, commander, MSCPAC. “Exercises like the OPDS deployment are like unicorns; they are extremely rare and get a lot of attention when they happen. Having the opportunity to train on a system and to work with other agencies and commands always proves invaluable for the overall mission we, as the Navy, conduct and support.”
AECE is one in a series of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command exercises in 2019 that prepares joint forces to respond to crises in the Indo-Pacific. AECE will specifically test joint expeditionary force logistical transfer capabilities in the Arctic environment, including wet logistics over the shore, expeditionary mine countermeasures, mobile diving and salvage and an offshore petroleum discharge system. Navy and Marine Corps participants will conduct operational and tactical actions to validate the Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE) and the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) concepts.
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2019 12:02 |
| Story ID: | 339266 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 211 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Military Sealift Command Supporting Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise, by Sarah Cannon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
