From July 8-12, Cam Ranh International Port successfully welcomed the USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the US 7th Fleet carrying over 1,000 officers and sailors, and the USCGC Waesche of the US Coast Guard, for a visit to Cam Ranh International Port.
Attending the welcoming ceremony were leaders from the Khánh Hòa Provincial Department of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defence’s Foreign Relations Department, the Navy Command’s Foreign Relations Office, Navy Region 4 Command, Coast Guard Region 3 Command, other functional agencies of Khánh Hòa Province, and members of the Cam Ranh International Port Board of Directors. Representing the US side were Ambassador Marc Knapper – US Ambassador to Vietnam, Consul General Susan Burns in Ho Chi Minh City, Vice Admiral Fred Kacher – Commander of the 7th Fleet, and defense attachés.
The USS Blue Ridge is the key flagship of the US 7th Fleet. It is one of the oldest Blue Ridge-class command ships in the US Navy, and Vice Admiral Fred Kacher, Commander of the 7th Fleet, uses the USS Blue Ridge as his daily residence and workplace to command the entire operations of the Fleet. The ship is equipped with the world’s most advanced computer and communication systems, making it the “brain” for the US Navy’s offshore combat operations.
The USS Blue Ridge was the first US Navy vessel for which TCPC successfully won the bid for military ship agency services. Immediately following the successful bid, TCPC collaborated with its partners to deploy plans aimed at meeting all of the ship’s requirements. Additionally, TCPC maintained close communication and proactive exchanges with the US side to promptly handle any issues that arose before, during, and after the ship’s arrival. At the conclusion of the visit, representatives from the US Navy highly praised the services provided by TCPC during the ship’s stay, noting they were swift, professional, timely, and ensured quality. The US side also extended an invitation for TCPC to bid for agency services for the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which is scheduled to visit Vietnam in the near future.
Successfully winning the international bid and being selected as the service provider for the USS Blue Ridge—the flagship of the 7th Fleet, the largest fleet operating in the Asia region—is immensely significant. This affirms TCPC’s reputation and capability in providing military ship agency services to the US Navy, the world’s largest naval force, and serves as a premise for TCPC to enhance its bidding activities for naval fleets globally. In the coming time, the TCPC Board of Directors will intensify Sales & Marketing efforts, actively engage with military attachés of foreign countries in Vietnam, the 7th Fleet, as well as companies and agents in Singapore and Dubai, to introduce TCPC’s services, such as military ship agency, fuel and provision supply, alongside repair services, and other related services, thereby steadily establishing Cam Ranh International Port as a technical logistics service center for foreign naval fleets, in line with the directions set forth by the Party, State, and Government.
