USS Nimitz heads west with Iran-Israel conflict escalating

Shafaq News/ The US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz departed the South China Sea on Monday, sailing west, according to data from the ship tracking website Marine Traffic, as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies.

The carrier had been scheduled for a port visit to Danang City in central Vietnam later this week. However, two sources—including a diplomat—confirmed to Reuters that a formal reception planned for June 20 was cancelled. One of them cited a notice from the US Embassy in Hanoi attributing the cancellation to “an emergent operational requirement.”

Last week, the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group carried out maritime security operations in the South China Sea as part of what the US Pacific Fleet described as a routine naval presence in the Indo-Pacific.

As of Monday morning, tracking data showed the vessel changing course and heading west, raising speculation about possible redeployment toward the Middle East, where US interests face heightened risk amid ongoing Iranian-Israeli hostilities.