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Vessel problem pushes back Marines’ arrival on Tinian
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Posted on May 10 2012
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
The privately owned high-speed vessel that’s supposed to bring some 100 U.S. Marines from Japan to Tinian has experienced “some technical challenges,” further pushing back the Marines’ arrival by a few days, Lt. Col. Aisha Bakkar of the Marine Forces Pacific Guam and CNMI said yesterday.
She said the earliest time of arrival is Sunday, May 13.
Don Farrell, CNMI historian and Tinian Mayor Ramon Dela Cruz’s point man on military issues, also said the Marines are not landing on Friday.
“In fact, their privately owned charter boat broke down and they a bobbing around somewhere in the Western Pacific. We are now expecting them to arrive on the 13th or 14th,” he said.
The Marines were originally set to arrive on May 8, then May 9, and then May 11. Now, the schedule has been pushed back further.
Officials said schedule changes frequently because of weather conditions and refueling requirements.
Some 200 Marines will participate in Exercise Geiger Fury 2012, which is intended to allow Marine Aircraft Group-12 out of Japan “to improve aviation combat readiness and simulate operations in a deployed austere environment.”
