The US aircraft carrier "Gerald Ford", which arrived at the Souda base on the Greek island of Crete for repairs after a fire on board on Monday, unexpectedly sailed yesterday for the Croatian port of Split, Greek media reported, quoted by BTA.
According to the local Cretan news portal "Hania News", the "Gerald Ford" left Souda yesterday morning.
Croatian media, quoted by the Greek edition of CNN, report that permission for the aircraft carrier to enter Croatian waters was given by the government in Zagreb in a closed session yesterday.
Sky Television commented that the decision to move the aircraft carrier to Split was probably also related to the public atmosphere in Crete, where various public demonstrations against the war in Iran are planned.
The aircraft carrier was sent to the Middle East to participate in military operations against Iran. According to official information, however, on March 12, a fire broke out in the aircraft carrier's laundry room, which spread through the ventilation system. It took several hours to bring the fire under control. Two people were injured, another 200 people had respiratory problems due to the smoke.