In the Navy

(7/13/2012)

The USS Benfold – an Arliegh Burke class guided missile destroyer of the U.S. Navy arrived in Bali’s port of Benoa on Thursday, July 12, 2012 for a four-day port call.

Captained by Commander Adrian J. Jansen, the USS Benfold sailed directly from San Diego, California to Bali with an intermediate fueling stop in Hawaii.

Captain Jansen told the press that Bali was the only Indonesian port scheduled for a visit by the ship with carries a complement of 281 officers and enlisted personnel.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Navy officials have confirmed that the USS Benfold will participate in joint training exercises at sea with two Indonesian vessels – KRI Hasan Basr and KRI Uling.

During its Bali visit the ship’s personnel will visit a number of local tourist objects, pay a courtesy call on the mayor of Denpasar and other local officials.

The ship has a length of 154 meters and weighs 9,000 tons. 

First launched in 1996, this is not the USS Benfold’s visit to Indonesia. The ship also played an important support role in Operation Unified Assistance the international relief efforts mounted following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

During that assignment the ship provided refueling services for helicopters providing relief assistance, served as a base of operations of a team from the Naval Oceanographic Office undertaking safety of navigation surveys and delivered emergency humanitarian supplies to the Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base in Banda Aceh