US supercarrier to visit Da Nang

By Vu Anh, Thanh Danh June 22, 2023 | 06:28 am PT

The USS Ronald Reagan operates in the South China Sea on June 17, 2023. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy

The USS Ronald Reagan will visit Da Nang for friendly exchange activities starting June 25, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang told a press conference that the visit would last from June 25 to June 30.

"Recently, Vietnam has received visits from naval vessels from different countries, and this time it will be a visit from the USS Ronald Reagan. This is a normal friendly exchange for the sake of peace, stability, cooperation and development in both the region and the world," Hang said.

The United States Naval Institute (USNI) News reported on June 19 that the USS Ronald Reagan, along with the USS Antietam, have already entered the South China Sea for replenishment.

The USS Ronald Reagan is a nuclear-powered supercarrier deployed in the Asia-Pacific region. It weighs 97,000 tons, spans 333 m and has a crew of around 5,000 people. It belongs to the United States Seventh Fleet, and is homeported in Yokosuka, Japan.

This will be the third time that a U.S. carrier has visited Da Nang. The USS Carlson stopped at the central Vietnam port city in March 2018, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt visited in March 2022.