The USS Blue Ridge, a command and control ship of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, is scheduled to sail into Manila on Thursday even as another U.S. Navy ship is still stuck on Tubbataha reef.
The Phillipine Star reports the Blue Ridge will be in Manila for a port call and a goodwill visit. Quoting a statement from the U.S. Embassy, the report said the visit “highlights the strong historic, community, and military connections between the United States and the Philippines.”
In January, the anti-mine ship USS Guardian ran aground in the Tubbataha National Marine Park off Palawan after a port call in Subic Bay. The U.S. has apologized for the incident and has blamed it on faulty navigational charts.
Salvage operations are currently ongoing and the stricken ship will be decommissioned, the U.S. Navy said.
The grounding of the Guardian revived calls from activist organizations to end a Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States.
