Morale on US aircraft carrier enforcing Iran blockade plummets, as sailor jumps overboard: Report

The US is set to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with the USS George Washington in the Middle East after reports of deteriorating conditions on the aircraft carrier enforcing a blockade of Iran.

The Lincoln has been deployed in the Middle East for more than 250 days without a port call. At least one sailor jumped overboard the vessel, and another had to be restrained from doing so, according to media reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Lincoln will be rotated out of the theatre of operations and replaced with the USS George Washington. US lawmakers have raised concerns about the physical and mental health of sailors on board.

The rotation comes after US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the blockade of Iran can be conducted “indefinitely”, as fighting continues to rage for control over the Strait of Hormuz with no return to a ceasefire in sight.

"Indefinitely the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we'll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we'll continue to," Hegseth told reporters on Thursday.

The Lincoln’s long deployment appears to have weighed on US Navy sailors.

CNN reported on Thursday that a sailor wearing a life vest went overboard the ship earlier this month amid a mental health crisis on board as a result of the extended deployment. The sailor was rescued within an hour and transferred off the ship for treatment, CNN added.

But the incident was not a one-off. US government-linked news sites, including Stars and Strips and The Navy Times, said that another crew member was prevented from jumping overboard amid exhaustion and declining morale on board the carrier.

One woman told a town hall attended by Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao that her husband aboard the ship “hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow”, according to Stars and Strips.

The US and Iran have been battling for control of the Strait of Hormuz for months. Iran has attacked vessels from Gulf states carrying oil and petroleum products outside the waterway, while the US has targeted vessels linked to Iran.

The US fired two Hellfire missiles on a Panama-flagged ship that attempted to run the American blockade of Iranian ports early Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

It’s not uncommon for an aircraft carrier to spend nine months at sea during wartime, but usually the vessel will make a port call every month in order to replenish supplies and give sailors an opportunity to rest.

“We’ve just been turning and burning the whole time we’ve deployed,” one sailor told Stars and Strips. Nothing to really look forward to at this point. All we want is a date home.”