The Norwegian military forces stated that the arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier on Wednesday provided them with “a unique opportunity to develop cooperation further and work more closely with our most important ally, the United States.”
A swift dinghy-style boat with armed men on board entered the Oslo fjord to accompany the nuclear-powered cruiser USS Gerald R. Ford.
According to the Norwegian military forces, a no-fly zone was established over the area where the aircraft carrier was, which also ordered all vessels to remain 0.5 kilometers (miles) away from the aircraft carrier.
The ship, which is thought to be the most significant aircraft carrier in the world, will remain in the Norwegian capital until Tuesday.
After that, it is anticipated to participate in military exercises with the Norwegian military, apparently in the Arctic.
Live coverage of the ship’s maiden foreign port of call was provided by Norwegian public television.
On land, onlookers could be seen, some with binoculars, watching as the massive aircraft carrier sailed farther and deeper into the fjord until it reached the city of Oslo.
In the 1950s, during the Cold War, Laila Wilhelmsen, standing alongside the road in Droebak, claimed that “there were warships here all the time.” She grew up in the little community approximately halfway along the fjord.
According to Norway’s news agency NTB, the prime minister of the Scandinavian nation, Jonas Gahr Stre, there would be “predictable reactions from Russia to this,” and Oslo is “continuing the line we have had in recent years of wanting allied exercises in Norwegian waters.”
Such power displays, according to the Russian embassy in the nation’s capital, “look harmful and illogical.”
Moscow and Oslo have had complex relations ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. In the Arctic, Norway, and Russia share a 198-kilometer (123-mile) boundary.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration stated that the depth of the 76-meter (250-foot) tall ship was “the big challenge” in navigating through the more than 100-kilometer (62-mile) long fjord.
According to NTB, the aircraft carrier anchored off the inner Oslofjord island of Ormoeya on Wednesday.
The US began in early May. According to the Navy, the ship underwent its “first combat deployment” after a shorter two-month deployment in the autumn of 2022.
The ship is the first American vessel—the new Ford class of aircraft carriers for the Navy. Two additional Ford-class aircraft carriers are being built.
There are around 2,600 sailors on board, which is 600 fewer than the aircraft carriers of the preceding generation.
JOIN US ON WHAT'SAPP, TO GET INSTANT STATUS UPDATES AND BE IN THE KNOW.
CLICK HERE
