US Navy and JMSDF conduct joint refuelling exercise

A US Military Sealift Command (MSC) commercial charter tanker, the Stena Imperative, and a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) oiler, the JS Ōmi, conducted a consolidated cargo replenishment-at-sea (CONSOL) off the coast of Kyushu, Japan, from August 12 to 15.

A CONSOL is the process where an MSC tanker conducts underway refuelling and cargo transfer to a combat logistics force ship, such as a naval oiler, at sea. Before the at-sea phase, the vessel must first complete Ships Qualification Training (SQT), which involves pier-side dry-run connection training to certify that it is fully equipped to safely receive fuel.

The training began in port at Sasebo, Japan, where the two crews participated in pier-side training, practising the deployment and retrieval of fuel lines between the ships. On the final day of the exercise, the two ships successfully connected while underway at sea and transferred fuel to complete the certification.

US Navy Captain David L. Reyes, commodore of MSC Far East, stated that by conducting CONSOL operations with allies, MSC vessels extend the endurance of naval forces and build the interoperability that turns combined fleets into a unified combat force. He described interoperability forged through these exercises as a "force multiplier" that underwrites combat power. The ability of a JMSDF tanker to conduct a CONSOL increases logistics capacity in the Indo-Pacific region.