After Final Failed Attempt, Pentagon Calls Quits on Gaza Aid Pier
After a final failed delivery attempt, the Pentagon has given up on the temporary aid pier for Gaza, and will disassemble and permanently remove it after just 23 days of active service.
The aid pier is a floating causeway system that works along with Army landing craft, Military Sealift Command ships, and a floating transfer platform for a capability known as Joint Logistics Operations Over The Shore (JLOTS). It is a complex, orchestrated system designed to provide heavy military logistics in areas without port improvements; however, it is not designed for operation in open-ocean conditions. Its service window is restricted to Sea State 3 and below, ruling out even moderate swells.
The pier was first affixed to an unprotected beach on Gaza's shoreline on May 17, and it has been removed multiple times because of the arrival of weather systems that exceed its limited capabilities. It was damaged in a storm in late May and had to be repaired before it could resume service.
On Wednesday, amidst persistent rumors that the troubled mission would be canceled, U.S. personnel tried to reattach the pier to the shore in Gaza for one more run. This effort was thwarted once again by "technical and weather-related issues," Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters on Thursday, and he confirmed that this would be the end of the aid pier project.
In all, the pier transferred approximately 8,100 tonnes of food and other aid to shore, or roughly one tenth of one Panamax bulker's cargo capacity.
The aid pier has come in for heavy criticism from Congress, and many powerful leaders - including top members of both the House and Senate armed services committees - have called for its cancelation. In late June, weeks before the official decision to bring the pier home, the Inspectors General of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Agency for International Development launched independent investigations to review the performance of the project.