ISTANBUL - The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) entered the Black Sea on April 3, Turkish media reported, posting its pictures while passing through the Bosporus Strait.
“The ship’s presence in the Black Sea demonstrates the United States’ commitment to working closely with allies to enhance maritime security and stability, readiness, and naval capability; and our commitment to promote peace and stability to our NATO allies in the region,” the command of the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet said in a statement on April 2.
The destroyer, which has entered the Black Sea as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, has replaced the French frigate La Fayette, which proceeded to the Mediterranean through the Turkish Straits on March 30.
The Jason Dunham, as well as the La Fayette, is expected to call at the Odesa port during its presence in the region.
The Jason Dunham has entered the Black Sea not for the first time. In 2012, it entered it to take part in the Sea Breeze joint naval exercises together with the Ukrainian Navy.
It was reported earlier that Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) comprised of the U.S. flagship USS Vicksburg (CG 69), a Canadian, Italian, and Turkish frigates, and a German tanker spent 18 days in the Black Sea in March to conduct joint exercises with Romanian naval ships.
U.S. and other NATO ships have been present in the Black Sea since the start of the crisis in eastern Ukraine. The Montreux Convention limits the presence of non-Black Sea countries’ ships in the Black Sea waters to 21 days, on the condition that their aggregate tonnage is not more than 30,000 tonnes.
