The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that a $320 million floating dock to the Gaza Strip that was announced with great fanfare by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address has been blown to pieces and will be taken down for at least a week for repairs.
Four U.S. warships that had been occupying part of the pier on Saturday lost power and were forced to wash up on shore, Defense Department deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters at a press conference.
Singh said “high waves” and “North African weather” caused the vessels to lose power. One of the vessels was recovered near Ashkelon and the other was expected to be recovered within 24 hours, Singh said. The remaining two were expected to be recovered within 48 hours, Singh said.
He said the pier would be dismantled and transported to Ashdod to be repaired and reinstalled, a process that will take at least a week. He also said the Pentagon was following President Biden’s instructions not to “send US troops to the ground” and that the Israeli navy was assisting in recovering the missing vessels.
But when asked whether the soldiers on the car section of the pier had gone ashore at any point, Singh said he believed “most” of them were able to stay on board and “are currently on board.”
A U.S. military landing craft washes up in Ashdod after being swept away by wind and currents from a temporary humanitarian pier in the Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsakhrir Abayov)
She also said another section of the pier, which was anchored to Gaza’s coast, broke off on Tuesday, damaging the pier and requiring repairs.
“Therefore, within the next 48 hours, the Trident pier will be removed from its moorings on shore and towed to Ashdod where repairs will be carried out by US Central Command. The reconstruction and repairs of the pier will take at least a week or more, and once complete it will need to be re-moored on Gaza’s shores,” she said.
She insisted the pier was not a failure and had “proven invaluable” in delivering aid to the people of Gaza. She did not have up-to-date estimates on how much it would cost to repair and reinstall the pier.
“So far, more than 1,000 tonnes of supplies have been transported from the jetty to the assembly point and handed over to Palestinians by humanitarian organisations,” she said.
Three service members sustained non-combat injuries while performing duties at the pier, two with minor injuries and one in critical condition, the statement said.
Singh said the jetty will be reconnected and “hopefully” weather conditions will not prevent that.
“Weather is unpredictable, but given the time of year, we believe we will be able to get this pier anchored and operational again, and hopefully the weather won’t get in the way any further. But we always assess based on environmental factors and if adjustments need to be made we will. But we are hopeful we will be fully operational in a little over a week,” she said.
