Ecuadorian navy Esmeralda-class missile corvettes BAE Manabi (CM 12) and BAE Loja (CM 16) conduct formation maneuvering alongside Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG 101), in the Pacific Ocean, April 8, 2026. Nimitz is deployed as part of Southern Seas 2026
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gina Gallia)
The United States Navy’s “Southern Seas 2026” is focused on maritime partnerships, joint training, and interoperability with multiple nations in the Caribbean and South and Central America. This year’s exercise, the 11th iteration of the U.S. Naval Forces/U.S. 4th Fleet command drills since it was first held in 2007, is unique in that they involve what is likely to be the final mission for the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the United States Navy’s oldest operational nuclear-powered supercarrier.
USS Nimitz is now on what is likely her final mission
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Julian Jaime)
The warship departed from Bremerton, Wash., on March 7 for the final time, and is now underway as part of a homeport shift to Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
As previously reported, the USS Nimitz, like all of the service’s supercarriers, is too large to transit the Panama Canal, so the carrier must take the long way, transiting from the Pacific to the Atlantic via Cape Horn at the tip of South America, before then heading north to Naval Station Norfolk.
The U.S. Navy is using the underway to take part in a variety of drills and exercises with regional allies and partners.
Earlier this week, CVN-68, joined by the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG-101), took part in a bilateral maritime engagement with the Ecuadorian Navy. The two U.S. Navy vessels operated with the Ecuadorian Esmeraldas-class missile corvettes BAE Manabi (CM 12) and BAE Loja (CM 16).
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Ecuadorian navy Esmeralda-class missile corvettes BAE Manabi (CM 12) conducts formation maneuvering alongside the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG 101)
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gina Gallia)
Ecuadorian A-29 Super Tucano aircraft, along with U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets multirole fighters and MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters assigned to Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17), also took part in the exercises. The training further involved “subject matter expert exchanges” and included a variety of simulated maritime interdiction scenarios, a live-fire gunnery exercise, formation maneuvers, and air defense drills.
“Engaging with partners like Ecuador ensures that when the need arises, we can work together as a proficient warfighting team, built with trust and experience,” explained Rear Adm. Cassidy Norman, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11. “Training on the high seas with Ecuadoran naval forces gave us the chance to hone our critical skills while also continuing to build a relationship that is already strong and enduring.”
Beyond the training exercises, the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered supercarrier hosted a visit by senior Ecuadorian government and military leaders, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabriela Sommerfeld, Minister of Defense Giancarlo Loffredo, and Chief of Defense Gen. Henry Delgado.
The bilateral maritime engagement with the missile corvettes in the eastern Pacific was just one of several planned training exercises involving the USS Nimitz as she makes her way south and then back up to Norfolk in the coming weeks. Current plans call for joint naval drills with the maritime forces of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Uruguay. In addition, USS Nimitz and USS Gridley are scheduled to make port calls in Brazil, Chile, Panama, and Jamaica over the coming weeks.
Although South Seas isn’t conducted annually, it has typically involved the deployment of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.
The inaugural Southern Seas 2007 deployment, part of the U.S. Southern Command’s “Partnership of the Americas” initiatives, didn’t see a carrier take part; instead, it was conducted by the U.S. Navy’s Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52), joined by the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20). That mission saw the vessels visit a dozen nations in Central and South America, and the Caribbean.
The sixth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS George Washington (CVN-73), first participated in Southern Seas 2008 and again in Southern Seas 2015 and Southern Seas 2024, with the latter being the most recent until this year’s iteration of the joint drills.
Southern Seas 2024 also coincided with CVN-73’s homeport shift, which began after the flattop returned to service following her mid-life refueling and complex overhaul that sidelined her for nearly six years. The flattop departed from Norfolk in late April of that year and headed to San Diego, where she conducted a hull swap at Naval Air Station North Island with USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). USS George Washington is now the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, based at Yokosuka, Japan.
A notable difference from the Southern Seas 2024 iteration is that, while CVN-73 was returning to service two years ago, this year marks the final goodbye journey for USS Nimitz after 51 years in service. Following her journey around South America and the Caribbean, CVN-68 will head to Norfolk to begin preparing for her decommissioning next March.
The original plan called for the oldest nuclear-powered supercarrier to be retired this spring, but by law, the U.S. Navy must retain 11 active aircraft carriers, which gave CVN-68 a brief respite. Another deployment isn’t likely; instead, USS Nimitz will likely conduct training and other drills from Naval Station Norfolk.
However, in the coming weeks, the focus will remain on the Southern Seas as the U.S. Navy and its regional partners prepare to say farewell to the carrier.
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