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USNS Pathfinder Participates In At-Sea Demonstration

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080904-25
Release Date: 9/4/2008 5:32:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Jenniffer Rivera, Fleet Public Affairs Center Detachment Europe

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (NNS) -- Military Sealift Command (MSC) oceanographic survey ship USNS Pathfinder (T-AGS 60) arrived in Sevastopol, Ukraine, Sept. 4 to pick up Ukrainian personnel and members of the U.S.-based Institute for Exploration (IFE) for an upcoming at-sea capabilities demonstration.

In April 2008, the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet was invited by the Ukrainian government to demonstrate U.S. Navy hydrographic survey capabilities and to help search for SS Armenia, a sunken, World War II Soviet hospital ship.

During the at-sea demonstration, civilian surveyors from the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), IFE and Ukraine's Department of Underwater Heritage will work together to search for the downed vessel.

"The Naval Oceanographic Office will be providing our state-of-the-art survey equipment," said civilian NAVOCEANO hydrographer Marian Clough. "We will also be providing oceanographic support to everyone involved."

Pathfinder is one of seven oceanographic survey ships operated by MSC. These noncombatant ships are a unique part of the U.S. Navy's fleet tasked with learning more about the world's oceans and undersea environment.

"For the crew this is an opportunity to take the ship somewhere we have not been before, and that is always a very exciting event," said Pathfinder's civilian master Capt. Troy Erwin. "The data we will collect in Ukrainian territorial waters will improve the navigational accuracy of charts used in this area for many ships."

In May 2008, Pathfinder collaborated with Estonian naval forces to search for Kaleva, a commercial aircraft that exploded over the Gulf of Finland after taking off from the Tallinn airport in June 1940.

MSC operates more than 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that deliver combat equipment to troops, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world, re-supply Navy ships at sea and perform a variety of other missions for the Department of Defense.

NAVOCEANO employs approximately 1,100 civilian, military and contract personnel and is responsible for providing oceanographic products and services to all elements within the U.S. Department of Defense.

For more news from Military Sealift Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/msc.>
For more news from U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/naveur/.