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3d ago

USS Gerald R. Ford Makes First Marseille Port Call

The stop features a strict 100-meter exclusion zone imposed by the prefecture to underscore strategic ties through planned visits involving naval crews alongside French officials.

Depuis lundi 4 août 2025, le plus grand porte-avions américain a jeté l’ancre au port de Marseille.
Le porte-avions USS Gerald R. Ford quitte la base navale de Norfolk le 24 juin 2025 à Norfolk, en Virginie.
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Overview

  • The nuclear-powered USS Gerald R. Ford and destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill arrived on August 4 and will remain anchored off Marseille until August 9 under a prefectural order.
  • The prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône has enforced a 100-meter maritime exclusion zone banning navigation, anchoring, bathing and diving around the vessels.
  • US Ambassador Charles Kushner described the visit as symbolic of the Franco-American alliance and personnel are scheduled to conduct official visits in Marseille, Paris and Monaco.
  • Marseille’s deep-water port offers strategic positioning between the Atlantic and the Middle East, enhancing US naval power projection in European waters.
  • Commissioned in 2017 after more than a decade of construction and powered by two nuclear reactors, the Ford spans 337 meters, carries about 4,500 crew and over 75 aircraft as the Navy’s most advanced carrier.