CHON BURI: The US Navy is prepared to go anywhere in the "free and open Indo-Pacific", said a spokesman for a carrier strike group visiting Thailand this week.
The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group is on an 11-month patrol mission in the US 7th Fleet area of operations that began last November. It has just finished taking part in drills with Japan and South Korea, said Lt Ben Bushong, spokesman for the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. It has also taken part in exercises with the Philippines.
During its mission, the carrier strike group passed through disputed parts of the South China Sea without any problem because it was "a free and open Indo-Pacific", he said.
Lt Bushong did not mention the group's next destinations after its visit to Thailand but said it was planning to visit all areas in the region.
He said the USS Nimitz was given the nickname "the Old Salt" as it has been at sea for 48 years.
It has almost 5,000 crew, 15% of whom are female, he added.
USS Nimitz was commissioned on May 3, 1975, and named after Fleet Admiral Chester W Nimitz, who achieved the highest rank in the United States Navy as Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet during World War II.
USS Nimitz is 1,092 feet long, 252 feet wide and 244 feet high, or as high as a 23-storey building.
It displaces 97,000 tonnes and uses two nuclear reactors to provide virtually unlimited range and endurance, as well as a top speed in excess of 30 knots.
The carrier strike group arrived in Thailand on Monday and is scheduled to stay at the Laem Chabang port until tomorrow. Its personnel have been granted shore leave in Pattaya and Chon Buri. "We like to visit Thailand," Lt Bushong said.
It arrived with the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur and USS Wayne E Meyer and a squadron of F/A-18 combat aircraft.
"Thailand is the oldest friend and ally of the United States in Asia. Our friendship spans two centuries, and we have accomplished so much together," US Ambassador to Thailand Robert F Godec said on Wednesday aboard the USS Nimitz.
"This year, we are privileged to celebrate the 190th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations," the ambassador said.