USS John L. Hall to visit Klaipėda from 21st to 23rd of October

October 20, 2009 

The guided missile frigate USS John L. Hall (FFG 32), commanded by Commander Derek Lavan, United States Navy, will be arriving at 0830 at the Naval and Cruise Ship Terminal in the Port of Klaipėda for a three-day visit. 

During his visit, Commander Lavan will call on the Mayor of Klaipėda, the Klaipėda County Governor, and the Commander of Lithuanian Naval Forces.  The crew will participate in friendly sports competition against Lithuanian sailors and exchanges with the Klaipėda Nautical College, and will meet with Sea Cadets in Juodkrantė.

In addition to rest and relaxation in Lithuania, sailors from the USS John L. Hall are planning a joint environmental project together with Lithuanian sailors on the beach in Melnragė the morning of Thursday, 22 October, commencing at 0900.  U.S. Ambassador Anne E. Derse is also planning on participating during this event, and will then visit the Caritas eldercare home and the Rytas orphanage, which had earlier received humanitarian assistance from the United States Armed Forces.   Ambassador Derse and the crew of the USS John L. Hall will be delivering supplies to those facilities.

The USS John L. Hall is part of Destroyer Squadron 24 and departed Naval Station Norfolk Sept. 23 to participate in Exercise Joint Warrior 2009, a multi-warfare exercise designed to improve interoperability between allied navies and prepare participating crews to conduct combined operations during deployments which took place in the North Atlantic. Visits such as this help build regional mutual understanding and maritime force interoperability between our nations.

Recently, Captain Olegas Mariničius, the Commander of Lithuanian Naval Forces traveled to the International Seapower Symposium hosted by the United States Chief of Naval Operations.  While at the Symposium, Captain Mariničius was able to discuss with over 100 Naval leaders topics related to the Global Maritime Partnership, an initiative to enhance cooperation between the U.S. Navy and foreign navies, coast guards, and maritime police forces, to ensure global maritime security against common threats.  The future of maritime security depends more than ever on international cooperation and understanding which is the principal reason of the visit of the USS John L. Hall to Lithuania.