US Navy destroyer exits the Black Sea

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) departed the Black Sea on March 3, after conducting maritime security operations.

The US Navy vessel entered the Black Sea in February 2018, joining sister ship USS Ross.

Carney’s crew visited Varna for a scheduled port visit to strengthen ties between the US and Bulgaria.

Members of Carney’s crew also visited and toured the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, where they conducted bilateral ship exercises with sailors from the Bulgarian Navy using ship simulators.

While in the Black Sea, Carney conducted several routine exercises including a gunnery exercise, shooting its 5-inch gun, close-in weapons system and 25mm guns.

Before departing the Black Sea, Carney conducted a replenishment-at-sea (RAS) with the NATO ally Turkish mine-class open sea fuel tanker TCG YB. Kudret Güngör (A 595), taking on approximately 190,000 gallons of fuel.

“During our mission in the Black Sea, Carney was able to work with and train alongside some of our NATO allies – demonstrating the enduring strength of our alliance through mutual exercises ashore, during joint ship-handling training with the Bulgarian Navy, and afloat, through an underway replenishment with a Turkish oiler,” Cmdr. Peter Halvorsen, commanding officer of Carney, said.

“It is through these types of events that we both improve our joint capability and show just how important the alliance is to maintaining peace and security in the region,” he added.

The US Navy routinely operates in the Black Sea consistent with the Montreux Convention and international law.

Carney, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is on a routine patrol conducting naval operations with allies and partners in the US 6th Fleet area of operations in order to advance security and stability in the Black Sea region.