Laem Chabang, Thailand — The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier docked at a port in eastern Thailand on Wednesday after its grueling deployment in the Middle East that kept the ship at sea for more than 250 days. journalists watched the Lincoln, which is carrying about 5,000 service members, as it made its way into the Laem Chabang port in Chonburi province shortly after the destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. sailed past the area. The Lincoln has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran.
Its deployment included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea. Concerns have grown about the Lincoln's lengthy deployment following reports of deteriorating mental health among the crew and shortages of supplies including food and hygiene products. Crew members were not immediately accessible to media, but the ship itself looked due for at least a new paint job, with large blotches of what appeared to be rust on the hull, especially just above the waterline and at the edge of the flight deck, where fighter aircraft and helicopters were parked.
When asked about the aircraft carrier's appearance, Capt. Dan Keeler, the Lincoln's commanding officer, replied that "it is normal for a long deployment and we're not going to make further comments." Asked for his thoughts about President Trump's comment that the Lincoln's record-setting deployment was "not nearly long enough," he was similarly terse. "So, the president speaks for himself," he said.
"That is what I think about that." A U.S. Embassy statement said the Lincoln's strike group arrived in Laem Chabang, while the Petersen Jr. docked at the nearby port of Sriracha, and the guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls is in Map Ta Phut in neighboring Rayong province. The visit marked the Lincoln's first full port stop after 286 days, or more than nine months, at sea from the start of the deployment in 2025, the statement said.
"Abraham Lincoln's visit to Laem Chabang is a clear demonstration of our enduring commitment to our allies and partners in Thailand, and we are all very excited to make Thailand the first port visit on our historic deployment," Keeler said earlier in a prepared statement. The father of one sailor previously told CBS News about the families' concerns about those on board the carrier. "They should not be deployed this long," said Jefferson Kelley, whose son Jackson was on the Lincoln on his first-ever deployment.
It's not like they're even state-of-the-art. And they take a lot of maintenance, a lot of work. It's around the clock." Another sailor's father was briefly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement before being released from custody last week.
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