USNS Lopez, S/S Great Land serve in Cobra Gold

Print | Close Window

USNS Lopez, S/S Great Land serve in Cobra Gold

The USNS 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez was one of two Military Sealift Command ships to complete an at-sea offload totaling more than 350 pieces of equipment and supplies for the Third Marine Expeditionary Force in late April as part of Cobra Gold, an exercise designed to promote regional stability and security throughout Southeast Asia.

Prior to the arrival of the two ships in Thailand, the S/S Great Land, which is being operated under MSC charter, offloaded more than 460 pieces of Marine Corps cargo at Thung Prong and Chuk Samet ports April 22 to 24, MSC reported.

The USNS Lopez is operated by American Overseas Marine Corp and the Great Land is operated by Interocean American Shipping. Both ships are manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers. The Lopez is permanently assigned to Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two.

The at-sea offload operations began April 28 as rolling stock was driven down the ramp of the Lopez onto the floating platform and then onto powered lighterage, which transported the cargo to shore. Containerized cargo was lifted onto the powered lighterage for transport ashore by one of the three shipboard cranes on the Lopez, MSC reported.

The cargo, including wheeled and tracked vehicles, ammunition and supplies, will be used in Cobra Gold. A complex operation, this offload involved multiple Navy and Marine Corps commands including MSC, the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, Naval Beach Group One, Navy Cargo Handling Battalion One and Amphibious Construction Battalion One, MSC reported. The ability to offload cargo at sea is necessary when operating in areas where port facilities are either nonexistent or too damaged or primitive for ships to pull alongside the pier.

"What’s so valuable about this exercise is that you can walk around and shake hands at the port and really learn what others are doing," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard Coleman of Navy Reserve Expeditionary Port Unit 117. "It’s all about understanding command relationships."

Cobra Gold is being conducted this month. Japan, Singapore and Indonesia will join Thailand and the U.S. in the exercise, which will include computer-simulated command post and field training exercises, as well as humanitarian relief efforts, MSC reported.