7th fleet flagship arriving at Subic

SUBIC BAY — The temporary flagship of the US Seventh Fleet is to make a three-day visit to this former American naval base from today.

The USS Coronado is one of the most advanced command ships in the world, and has been designated as the US navy’s "sea-based battle laboratory" as well as the command ship for the Hawaii-based US Third Fleet, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said in a statement.

The ship is temporarily deployed to Japan while the USS Blue Ridge, the command-and-control ship of the Japan-based US Seventh Fleet, undergoes dry dock maintenance which will last for several months, according to the official website of the Seventh Fleet.

The USS Coronado departed San Diego on March 5 and arrived at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, 40 miles south of Tokyo, on March 24. It has 263 crew members on board, including 117 sailors.

Subic Bay was the former supply and repair yard of the Japan-based US Seventh Fleet, the largest forward deployed US fleet in the world covering the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans with about 40 to 50 ships.

Subic Bay was turned into a light industrial and free port zone after US forces turned over the base to the Philippine government in 1992.

Visits of US navy ships to the Philippines have been increasing in recent years, after a long freeze in bilateral relations following the shutdown of the US bases. — AFP