The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived in Danang yesterday for a five-day visit, a sign that relations between U.S. and Vietnam remain on track despite uncertainties in the trade relationship.
The nuclear-powered carrier and its two escorts, the guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls and the guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup, pulled into the port in central Vietnam yesterday, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement.
The ship and its commanders were greeted by Vietnam’s Naval Region 3 Command, and representatives from the ministries of National Defense and Foreign Affairs, as well as senior U.S. officials from the embassy in Hanoi.
This is the fourth visit by a U.S. aircraft carrier to Vietnam since the historic visit of the USS Carl Vinson to Danang in March 2018, the first since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1995. The USS Theodore Roosevelt then visited in March 2020, to mark the 25th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Hanoi and Washington, followed by the USS Ronald Reagan in 2023. The Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit also paid a visit to Danang, along with the USS Robert Smalls, in December of last year.
