Shipping Agent award for USS Mt. Whitney Port Visit in Malta

Shipping Agency services to USS Mount Whitney LCC 20 in Valletta, Malta

O.F. Gollcher & Sons Ltd. was entrusted to coordinate and provide all the logistical and husbandry requirements as a Shipping Agent to the USS Mount Whitney, ensuring that the port visit from the 9^th till the 12^th of February 2020 was a successful one for all the parties concerned.

The USS Mount Whitney is stationed in Gaeta, Italy and has been in active service since 1971 when it was commissioned. Built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, the Navy Ship has a length of 189m (620 ft), a beam of 33m (108 ft) and a max draft of 906cm (29ft) with a displacement of 18,400 tons at full load. It is propelled by two boilers and one geared turbine and can reach up to 23 knots.

Named after the 14,505-foot peak in the Sierra-Nevada range in California, the highest point in the lower continental United States, it is the first ship in the U.S. Navy to bear this name. Having been in service since 1971, USS Mount Whitney’s service life was extended to 2039 by the chief of Naval Operations in 2011, by being enlisted into the ESLP (Extended Service Life Program) by the Naval Sea Systems Command. The program provides for major repair and overhaul of systems and equipment and a whole range of improvements being done to the ship.

The USS Mount Whitney has a complement of 184 Active duty Navy and 146 Civilian Mariners with a total crew of 34 officers and 564 enlisted, and was actually the first U.S. Navy combatant to accommodate women on board on a permanent basis.

Apart from having a whole host of armaments, the ship also carries a Helicopter onboard.

USS Mount Whitney serves as the Command Ship for Commander, SIXTH Fleet/ Commander, Joint Command Lisbon/Commander, Striking Force NATO.

Prior to its arrival in Malta LCC 20 transited southbound the Strait of Messina, where it conducted a replenishment-at-sea with the USNS Kanawha (T-AO 196).