{"id":51040,"date":"2026-03-19T22:34:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T22:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/19\/two-us-counter-mine-ships-based-in-the-middle-east-are-now-in-singapore-navy-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:13:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:13:33","slug":"two-us-counter-mine-ships-based-in-the-middle-east-are-now-in-singapore-navy-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2026\/03\/19\/two-us-counter-mine-ships-based-in-the-middle-east-are-now-in-singapore-navy-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Two US counter-mine ships based in the Middle East are now in Singapore, Navy says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A pair of U.S. Navy counter-mine vessels that are homeported in Bahrain arrived in Singapore this week, according to a U.S. Fifth Fleet spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Independence-class littoral combat ships USS Santa Barbara and USS Tulsa entered the U.S. Seventh Fleet area of responsibility earlier in the week, the spokesperson said, stopping first in Malaysia for a port call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each ship is equipped with a mine countermeasures mission package designed to detect and destroy naval mines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTulsa and Santa Barbara are conducting scheduled maintenance and logistics stop in Singapore,\u201d the spokesperson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two nations, according to the spokesperson, have an agreement to allow littoral combat ships to operate primarily from Singapore as a logistics and maintenance hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Monday, the USS Canberra, the other Bahrain-based LCS with a mine countermeasures package, was in the Indian Ocean, parts of which are in the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\t