THE U.S. Marine Corps wouldn’t confirm nor deny that the MV-22 Osprey aircraft reportedly onboard a commercial cargo ship was en route to Guam, but it reiterated defense officials’ earlier announcement that the aircraft would soon land in Japan.
“The aircraft will arrive at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni [in Yamaguchi prefecture] for unloading in late July,” according to Lt. Col. David Griesmer, director of Public Affairs Office at the Marine Corps Installations Pacific in Tokyo.
“The [Department of Defense] provided host nation notification to the government of Japan in Tokyo on June 29 that it will make a fleet upgrade to replace CH-46 helicopters with MV-22 Osprey aircraft,” Griesmer said in an email to Variety.
According to MarineTraffic.com, the U.S. cargo ship Green Ridge, which is reportedly ferrying the aircraft, is scheduled to arrive on Guam at 8 p.m. tomorrow.
“I can't speak about the shipping schedule/route for a commercial ship,” Griesmer said.
Bernadette Meno, marketing administrator for the Port Authority of Guam, said Green Ridge is not listed on PAG’s shipping schedules posted online.
Green Ridge’s Guam agent, Ambyth Shipping and Trading Inc., declined to comment. Teresa Lee Gotti, shipping agency manager for Ambyth, said the company could not release any information about ship arrivals and contents.
Lt. Col. Aisha Bakkar, public affairs officer of the Marine Corps Activity-Guam, said it is not uncommon for the Department of Defense to use commercial vessels to transport military equipment.
“Our Maritime Prepositioned Ships are civilian cargo ships with civilian crews, as are the high speed vessels used to transport personnel and equipment in the Asia-Pacific area,” Bakkar said.
“However,” she added, “the Marine Corps does not provide manifest information or port arrival information for cargo ships. This is a commercial vessel that includes non-military cargo. The owner of the ship would control access to the ship.”
The Pentagon plans to transport Ospreys to the Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi prefecture for test flights and maintenance, and eventually deploy them at the Marines' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa for operation in early October.
The protesting Okinawans are opposed to the Osprey deployment, worried about the safety of the Bell Boeing-built aircraft that figured in a series of recent accidents.
“In recognition of the remaining concerns of the Japanese government about the safety of the aircraft, DOD will refrain from any flight operations of the MV-22 in Japan until the results of the investigations are presented to the Japanese government and the safety of flight operations is confirmed,” Griesmer said.
He said the Defense Department expects to present the investigation results to the Japanese government in August.
“During this period, Japan will be the only location worldwide where the United States will suspend MV-22 flight operations,” Griesmer said.
He added the flight operations of the MV-22 and CV-22 will continue uninterrupted elsewhere around the world, including the continental United States.
“The MV-22 Osprey has an excellent safety record, and has surpassed 115,000 flight hours. About one-third of the total hours were flown during the last two years,” Griesmer said. “The Osprey achieved these flight hours performing combat operations, humanitarian assistance, training, and test and evaluation missions.”
He said basing the Osprey in Okinawa “will significantly strengthen the United States' ability to provide for the defense of Japan, perform humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, and fulfill other alliance roles.”
