The US super aircraft carrier encountered a problem while operating near Iran

“A fire broke out in the main laundry area on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford on March 12. The incident was not related to combat operations and the fire was controlled,” the 5th Fleet Command, the agency in charge of operations in the US Navy’s Middle East, announced today, but did not announce the cause of the incident.

The fire did not affect the engine system and the Ford battleship still operated normally. The two sailors received medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries and are in stable condition, according to the 5th Fleet Command.

The Ford aircraft carrier strike group is operating in the Red Sea, supporting America’s Frightful Wrath air campaign against Iran.

USS Gerald R. Ford is the most expensive warship in US naval history with a delivery price of nearly 13 billion USD. However, the warship encountered many problems during the manufacturing process, leading to delays and price increases, as well as experiencing many problems when deployed on missions.

Last month, US media reported that the toilet system on the Ford ship was often clogged due to design errors and had to be on long duty at sea. This situation happens so often that some news sites describe it as a “toilet crisis” on ships.

A US navy official confirmed that the ship’s wastewater drainage system, which uses vacuum technology to move waste from about 650 toilets to a treatment site, had problems during the Ford’s combat deployment, forcing technicians to repair it daily.

In a report published in 2020, the US Government Audit Office (GAO) said that the wastewater drainage pipe on the USS Gerald R. Ford was designed too narrow, not meeting the water discharge needs of more than 4,000 crew members. To unclog toilets, the US Navy must use special chemicals and costs about 400,000 USD each time.