The USS Stout logged 208 days at sea on Saturday, marking the longest consecutive number of days at sea for a military surface ship, NBC News reports.
The Navy said the U.S. guided missile destroyer ship officially broke the record for the number of days it has spent at sea.
The ship has been in the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations, which is located in the Middle East and North Africa area.
According to NBC News, the previous record of 207 days at sea was set this year. Both the USS Eisenhower and USS San Jacinto spent 207 days at sea amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Navy canceled port visits as a way to mitigate the risk of sailors catching the coronavirus will off the ship.
More than 1,000 sailors onboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt caught the coronavirus earlier this year.
NBC News reports that the USS Stout deployed as part of the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, but while the rest of the strike group returned home earlier this summer, the Stout remained at sea. The Stout supported maritime security operations such as patrolling the Bab el-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz during its deployment.
“We are extremely proud of Stout’s accomplishments in theater as they’ve been operating to ensure freedom of navigation,” said Vice Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet, Combined Maritime Forces. “Under the challenges of COVID-19 and the uncertainty of regional tensions, Stout embodied their motto and prevailed with ‘Courage, Valor and Integrity.'”
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