The pier has been usable for just 12 days since it began operations on 17 May. On most of those days the assistance arriving by sea has had to be left on the beach as there have been no trucks to distribute it to warehouses in Gaza, because of lack of security.
Over the entire course of the pier’s operation so far, however, only about 250 truckloads of food and other humanitarian assistance (4,100 tonnes) have arrived by the planned maritime corridor, less than half of what would cross into Gaza in a single day before the war. Much of the aid that has arrived so far is stuck at the foot of the pier on a marshalling yard established on the beach.
The seas in the eastern Mediterranean have been choppier than expected and the pier (known by the US military as the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, JLOTS) has been less robust than the Pentagon planners predicted. The JLOTS floating structure is designed to work in conditions up to “sea state 3”, defined by waves of 0.5 to 1.25 metres. It was hoped it would endure through the spring and summer until September, but it was badly damaged in a storm on 25 May, and the sea has been unseasonably choppy since then.
It was put back in place on Wednesday and since then has been used to offload about 4,160 tonnes of aid, but there have been reports that, because of its vulnerability to weather and high seas, it could be dismantled once and for all ahead of schedule, as early as next month.
“They just miscalculated,” Stephen Morrison, a senior vice-president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said. “They didn’t fully understand what was going to happen with the weather … So the DoD [Department of Defence] walks away, humiliated in a fashion.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A floating pier built by the US military for seaborne humanitarian deliveries to Gaza has proved itself to be fragile in the face of rougher seas than expected, and the future of the whole $230m project is now in question.
When he announced it in his state of the union speech on 7 March, Joe Biden said the temporary pier “would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day”.
Over the entire course of the pier’s operation so far, however, only about 250 truckloads of food and other humanitarian assistance (4,100 tonnes) have arrived by the planned maritime corridor, less than half of what would cross into Gaza in a single day before the war.
Since 274 Palestinians were killed by Israel Defense Forces in the course of a hostage rescue mission on 8 June, the World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended the convoys that were supposed to take pallets of aids from the marshalling yard to warehouses and then to the 2.3 million people of Gaza under bombardment and facing famine.
The pier was intended as a means of getting aid ashore independently of Israel to the besieged and devastated coastal strip, after the Biden administration became frustrated with the lack of access for relief supplies through land crossings.
“With need in Gaza growing as well as the extreme insecurity that is making onward distribution from Keren Shalom in particular incredibly difficult for humanitarian organisations, the maritime pier is a critical additional conduit for aid deliveries,” a US official said.
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I hope they learn good lessons from this. The main strength of the US military is its logistics, and being unable to deploy a simple pier is concerning.
I hope they don’t learn anything from this. The US military should just get the fuck out of the Middle East.
They didn’t miscalculate anything. Genocide has always been the plan
It’s hard to tell if it was/is logistically effective vs. everyone shitting in it because that’s trendy rn.
With knowing absolutely nothing, I can only assume it’s an excellent concept that will (unfortunately) help a lot in a broad range of situations.
At the moment, plenty of creases to iron out, but it’s not a failure and humanitarian aid can definitely bolster with it.
People were shitting on this pier idea well before it was built. It has been the military equivalent of “thoughts & prayers.” All while at the same time giving the opposing force bombs to continue their assault on civilians. Gaza has been a humanitarian disaster
It was an absolute disaster as had been predicted from the very start. Even the aid that was delivered through the pier was just blocked by israel from entering the rest of Gaza.
Hey it did a great job evacuating the idf
So for 300 million dollars they managed to enter 250 truckloads of which most is rotting away because israel is bombing the aid delivery vehicles and the aid is stuck at the pier.
Only Biden could make air dropping look like a cost effective solution.
lol, miscalculated? 😂
The entire purpose of the pier was to use it as a Trojan horse to get military into the refugee camp disguised in aid trucks so they could do their “hostage rescue mission” where they murdered 274 people.
It served its purpose.
Did Boeing build this thing?
Considering they’re such a big contractor I actually wouldn’t be surprised if it somehow ended back at Boeing’s feet.
There’s a book the U.S. military might have heard of. I know it’s kind of rare and most people don’t know it exists, but there’s this ancient book all about a guy getting tossed from one place to the next in a series of huge Mediterranean storms. Like I said, rare book, you might not have heard of it, not sure. Anyway, it’s called “The Odyssey” and you guys really should check it out next time you’re not sure whether or not there’s severe weather there.
“They didn’t fully understand what was going to happen with the weather … So the DoD [Department of Defence] walks away, humiliated in a fashion.”
I’m sorry but do they expect me to believe the worlds deadliest and most expensive military failed to account for the weather instead of believing they deploed an intentionally half assed solution for victims of their closest ally to appease public opinion?
They may have … because the planning was rushed … meaning, more importantly, they used historical weather patterning which is now unreliable (due to global warming).
Which is why the best option was to just stop Israels blockade of supplies not just add a new way it could be blocked
The Mediterranean has been historically stormy.
Yes, but the article clearly says …
The seas in the eastern Mediterranean have been choppier than expected …
Just because they had an expectation doesn’t mean it was one based on reality
Expected by the U.S. military you mean.
If only this military had the world’s largest amphibious logistic capability. If only the ships delivering to the Pier could also deliver to beaches.
