A United States aircraft carrier has been anchored off the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang on a visit to Vietnam that will last until March 9.

Aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was in a maritime area about four nautical miles off Da Nang on Thursday morning.

The welcome ceremony was held at 1:00 pm on the same day.

About 40 correspondents were brought to the carrier on a ship to report on the event.

The aircraft carrier's visit is aimed at marking 25 years of the Vietnam-U.S. diplomatic ties, Le Thi Thu Hang, spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a press briefing held on the same day.

During their stay from March 5 to 9, crew members of the aircraft carrier are slated to visit the 3rd Regional Command of the Vietnam People’s Navy, officials of the the Da Nang People’s Committee, and local social welfare establishments.

They will also participate in cultural exchange activities and friendly sports competitions.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is the second U.S. Navy aircraft carrier to visit Vietnam since 1975.

Previously, Da Nang also welcomed the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) in March 2018.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is the fourth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. It was put into operation in 1984.

The ship has a displacement of 104,600 metric tons and a length of 332.8 meters, operated by two 194-megawatt nuclear reactors.

It is capable of carrying 90 aircraft of all kinds.

During this visit, the aircraft carrier is accompanied by the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), a 173-meter-long Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser with a displacement of 9,800 tons.

The cruiser is equipped with two vertical launching systems, which are capable of launching Tomahawk and several other types of missiles.

It can also carry two Seahawk SH-60B or MH-60R helicopters.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!