NAPLES, Italy –
The U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) Readiness and Logistics (N4) team spearheaded a Fuel Support Agreement (FSA) with the Department of Defense and the United Kingdom, June 23, 2021.
The NAVEUR-NAVAF team analyzed current fueling capabilities and recognized that an agreement with the U.K. to utilize their fuel storage facilities in Scotland would greatly enhance the Navy’s capabilities to execute peacetime and contingency operations. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy and the United Kingdom Naval Command Headquarters signed the agreement.
“This is an unprecedented achievement between our two nations that will surely strengthen our partnership for years to come,” said Rear Adm. Michael T. Curran, director, Readiness and Logistics, NAVEUR-NAVAF. “I look forward to building upon our momentum by establishing similar capabilities with our other NATO Allies and partners.”
The agreement strengthens the working relationship with the U.K.’s Royal Navy, advances interoperability, and increases the U.S. Navy’s capacity of fuel products within the European Command (EUCOM) area of responsibility (AOR). The NAVEUR-NAVAF N4 team, in coordination with Commander, Task Force (CTF) 63, sent a Combat Logistics Force (CLF) unit to Naval Command Headquarters Petroleum Depots in Loch Striven and Campbeltown, Scotland prior to negotiating the Fuel Support Agreement to prove the interoperability between the facilities and the Navy’s CLFs. In response to the successful interoperability tests, both parties pursued the mutually beneficial Fuel Support Agreement that allows the U.S. Navy access to the U.K.’s fuel facilities and to store naval petroleum products that support U.S. Naval Forces. These petroleum products include turbine fuel for afloat units (JP-5, or F-44) and marine diesel (F-76), which are critical to sustaining the Navy’s surface units.
“I applaud our team in their commitment to this endeavor,” said Cmdr. Michael Kidd, chief of logistics plans & programs, NAVEUR-NAVAF. “Their efforts will go a long way in providing our Naval Forces’ greater endurance and range when operating in the High North.”
The agreement gives naval units access to the Naval Command Headquarters Petroleum Depots Loch Striven and Campbeltown, Scotland, providing bulk quantities of F-44 and F-76 fuel to cargo vessels for further distribution in the Baltic and Norwegian Seas. Additionally, the bulk fuel stored at the depots reduces the transit time from the U.S. Navy’s northern most Defense Fuel Supply Point (DFSP), DFSP Rota, by one to two days.
This is the first agreement of its kind among northern NATO partners and remains in effect for five years with an automatic renewal that allows for periodic reviews and incorporation of emergent needs.
NAVEUR-NAVAF, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.