US warship cancels plans to dock in Vietnam, reported heading towards West Asia

WASHINGTON: The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was leaving Southeast Asia on Monday after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it is headed to West Asia to boost the US presence as Israel and Iran do battle.

At 13.45 GMT, the carrier was travelling through the Malacca Strait toward the Indian Ocean, according to Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking site.

A Vietnamese government official confirmed that a planned reception aboard the USS Nimitz on June 20, as part of the ship's expected June 19-23 visit to Danang, had been cancelled. The official shared a letter from the US embassy announcing that the defence department was cancelling the event due to "an emergent operational requirement." The US embassy in Hanoi declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the Nimitz. The Nimitz can hold 5,000 personnel and more than 60 aircraft, including fighter jets.

Meanwhile, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Monday said that Iran's missile barrage had lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv.