For Want of an Oiler: The Fragile State of America’s Afloat Logistics Fleet

What’s Going On With Shipping?

Salvatore R. Mercogliano, Ph.D. – 

The Navy oiler – a tanker designed to refuel other ships while at sea – shuddered from the hit. Almost immediately, water began to flood into the engine room and at least one of the ship’s rudders was out of service. The damage and flow of water proved challenging for the crew. As the only US Navy fuel ship in the area capable of supporting a carrier strike group came to a stop, the vulnerability of the thin lifeline of American afloat logistics became apparent. How would an entire carrier strike group remain operational without fuel for its planes and escorts? With one stroke, the hitting power of a substantial portion of the U.S. Navy was reduced.

For Want of an Oiler: The Fragile State of America’s Afloat Logistics Fleet

(Primer) A Decade of EDCA: US military bases and its expanding war games in the Philippines

The outright re-establishment of US military bases in the country and its relentless and escalating war games on land, sea, and air are flagrant manifestations of US imperialist domination of the Philippines. This further tightens the grip of US imperialism on the Philippine neocolonial state, especially on the puppet Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

(Primer) A Decade of EDCA: US military bases and its expanding war games in the Philippines

Spain to Block Maersk Ships Bound to Israel After Pressure From Activists

The Spanish government has announced it will block two ships—Denver and Seletar—operated by shipping giant Maersk and carrying military cargo bound for Israel, from docking at the port of Algeciras. This decision comes just days after the Mask off Maersk campaign released a report exposing the company’s regular use of the Spanish port for transferring cargo that enables the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, despite Spain’s stated arms embargo.

Spain to Block Maersk Ships Bound to Israel After Pressure From Activists

US Army Soldier Dies from Injuries in Biden-Harris Gaza Pier Debacle

US Army Soldier Dies from Injuries in Biden-Harris Gaza Pier Debacle

This marks the third death related to the Gaza Pier mission. Just days before Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley’s passing, Norfolk’s Marine Hydraulics International (MHI) reported that two shipworkers died aboard the USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo, a Military Sealift Command ship undergoing repairs in connection with the Gaza aid mission, was the site of a tragic accident during maintenance. The workers’ identities have not been released. The vessel had previously been dispatched to support the pier mission but was diverted to the shipyard after its engine room caught fire en route to Gaza in April.

Russia’s Swift March Forward in Donbass [Pokrovsk is the prize]


Source: The Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project
 Note: As of Oct. 29
 By The New York Times

Russia’s Swift March Forward in Ukraine’s East

In October, Russia made its largest territorial gains since the summer of 2022, as Ukrainian lines buckled under sustained pressure.

Over the past month, Russian forces have seized more than 160 square miles of land in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, the main theater of the war today. That has allowed them to take control of strategic towns that anchored Ukrainian defenses in the area, beginning with Vuhledar in early October. This past week, battle has raged in Selydove, which now appears lost.

Ultimately, experts say, these gains, among the swiftest of the war, will help the Russian army secure its flanks before launching an assault on the city of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub for Ukrainian forces in the Donbas.


Source: New York Times analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War with American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project
 Note: As of Oct. 29
By The New York Times

H/T: Flash : [The New York Times] Russia’s Swift March Forward in Ukraine’s East [Donbass]

Previously:

Ukraine Faces a Double Threat if Russia Takes Pokrovsk

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US Missile Agency Scales Back Guam Defence Plans + More

Source

US Missile Agency Scales Back Guam Defence Plans

The project is designed to create “360 degree” protection for the U.S. Pacific territory from missile and air attacks of all kinds, the agency said. Plans include integrating Raytheon’s SM-6, SM-3 Block IIA, Lockheed Martin’s THAAD, and the Patriot PAC-3, which uses components from both companies, over about 10 years.

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