A floating pier off the coast of Gaza, which Coronado-based sailors helped build to provide humanitarian aid, was damaged by rough seas.
The U.S. Navy is working to fix it and resume its operation by the end of the week, said Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, in a June 5 media briefing.
“On Saturday, May 25th, four U.S. Army vessels supporting the maritime humanitarian aid mission in Gaza were affected by heavy sea states, causing these motorized pier sections, which are used to stabilize the Trident Pier, to break free from their anchors due to a loss in power and subsequently beach ashore,” Singh said.
The project’s total cost was initially estimated at $320 million, but estimates have decreased to $230 million due to lower than anticipated costs for contracted trucks, drivers and commercial vessels, as well as the United Kingdom’s contribution of a berthing vessel, Singh said. That figure includes the repair costs.
“The pier proved highly valuable in delivering aid to the people of Gaza,” Singh said. “Thus, upon completion of the pier repair and reassembly, the intention is to reanchor the temporary pier to the coast of Gaza and resume humanitarian aid to the people who need it most.”
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that 1.1 million people face “catastrophic levels of food insecurity” and reports that 1,433 truckloads of aid have entered Gaza since May 7, down from a 2023 daily average of 500 trucks.
Israel has accused the UN of under-counting aid trucks, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN that Israel’s policy is to let as much aid as possible into the country.
The floating dock off the coast of Gaza, known as a roll-on, roll-off discharge facility, was built as a part of the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, mission, which is led by the Army’s 7th Transportation Brigade from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
Sailors from Naval Beach Group 1, which is based at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, built the facility.
The roll-on, roll-off discharge facility measures 72 feet wide by 270 feet long and floats approximately three miles off Gaza’s shore. Cargo ships will offload aid shipments at sea at the facility.
Once offloaded, cargo is transported to shore along an approximately 1,800-foot causeway comprising modular sections linked together, known as a Trident Pier. The Navy operates causeway ferries to transport the cargo from the discharge facility to the Army’s floating pier.
“My proudest accomplishment in the Navy is supplying humanitarian aid to those in Gaza while also feeding more than 130 Sailors and crew three times a day,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Krystina Sosa, who serves aboard the USNS 1st. Lt. Baldomero Lopez with Naval Beach Group 1, in a military press release. “I feel privileged to be a part of something that is way bigger than myself.”
