PORT KLANG: The United States navy's Seventh Fleet flagship, USS 'Blue Ridge' (LCC 19), arrived in Port Klang today.
US Seventh Fleet commander Vice- Admiral Fred Kacher said Malaysia was a key partner for the US navy in the region.
"So this port visit provides us with an important opportunity to meet our Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) counterparts, engage with the community here, and enjoy the sights and culture."
The ship arrived at the Port Klang Cruise Terminal this morning, marking its second visit to Malaysia since Kota Kinabalu 2019.
Upon docking, Kacher was met by RMN Inspector General Rear Admiral Abdullah Sani Ismail.
Meanwhile, the ship's commanding officer, Captain Nicholas DeLeo, said both navies would discuss maritime security.
"There are couple of items of mutual interests that we have with Malaysia in terms of security, whether it's counterterrorism, maritime domain awareness or regional stability.
"Those are topics that we are looking to discuss and further our relationship on.
"And I think through the dialogue over the coming days, that's what we're attempting to achieve," he said during the media tour of USS 'Blue Ridge'.
The media was shown the ship's pilothouse as well its large flight deck, home to two multi-mission MH-60R Seahawk helicopters.
DeLeo said there would be activities planned for the crew as many had not visited the country. He added that they were looking forward to enjoy Malaysian food.
"We have a couple of community relation programmes. We have two sporting events: a volleyball match and a soccer match.
"We'll also visit a soup kitchen and a school."
The USS 'Blue Ridge' has about 1,000 sailors and will be docked here until this weekend.
It had previously visited Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.
Commissioned in 1970, the vessel is the second oldest ship in the US navy behind the three-masted, wooden-hulled heavy frigate USS 'Constitution'.
It is also one of the few US navy ships that is still powered by steam as its primary means of propulsion.
Its main role is to provide command, control, communications, computers and intelligence support to the commander and staff of the US Seventh Fleet.
It is forward-deployed to US Navy Fleet Activities in Yokosuka, Japan.
The USS 'Blue Ridge' is the third US navy ship named after the Blue Ridge Mountains in the eastern US.