[cva66snipe]

I anticipated that my next question for you would be how long it would take to steam from Australia to the Straits of Hormuz? PI. Phillipine Islands? How long from there? India would be a good deal better. Hopefully the Pres. was working on that while he was ignoring this teapot tempest.

Perth is roughly 6 days at about 40 knots and does have a ship yard. When the UAE shipyard deal was started Newport News Shipbuilding owned at least a third in the company the rest is a nationalized company of UAE. NNSBDD sold their interest back to the UAE a couple of years ago. This shipyard wasn't an emergency only facility it was doing routine and warranty work as well. In a ship yard a ships Damage Control material condition is highly compromised and is not capable of obtaining water tight integrity in most cases.

IF a yard in that region was a must have then India would have been a much better partner.

[TigersEye]

Thanks for the reply. Six days sounds much too long to respond to a serious situation. Sounds too long for getting resupply and task force support too in an emergency situation. As a civvy I have to take Gen. Abhazid (sp?) at his word that the UAE has been "absolutely vital."