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The amphibious transport ship USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) was photographed this Monday sailing off the coast of Guayama, in the southeast of Puerto Rico, in what appears to be its departure from the island after a new stopover, according to images shared by the WarshipCam account on the social media platform X.
The photograph, taken by photographer Hector Antonio Rivera Valentín, shows the ship with visible military vehicles on deck and navigating through Caribbean waters. The fleet tracker from USNI News on the same day records the USS Fort Lauderdale in transit, which is consistent with the sighting.
The USS Fort Lauderdale is part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, along with the flagship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) and the USS San Antonio (LPD-17), and has been operating in the Caribbean since late August 2025 as part of Operation Southern Spear.
This operation, described as the largest U.S. military deployment in the region since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, involves over 4,500 sailors and marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (SOC) based in Camp Lejeune.
Their stated objectives include interrupting the illicit drug trade, intercepting the so-called "dark fleet" that transports sanctioned Venezuelan oil to Cuba, and deterring hostile actors in the Western Hemisphere.
The estimated cost of the deployment amounts to 3 billion dollars, with peaks of up to 20 million dollars daily.
Puerto Rico has served as an operational base and a recurring stop for the group. The USS Fort Lauderdale visited the Port of Ponce in November 2025 and returned between January 6 and January 11, 2026, for a six-day stay.
The ship has also maintained an intense training activity in the area. On February 26, 2026, sailors from the Iwo Jima Amphibious Group conducted live-fire exercises with M4 rifles on its flight deck while navigating the Caribbean Sea, according to a post on their social media.
Weeks earlier, on February 7th, marines conducted maritime interdiction exercises involving fast rope descents from UH-1Y Venom helicopters onto the USS Fort Lauderdale itself.
On May 6, just days before the sighting off Guayama, the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) published images of an MV-22B Osprey from the 22nd MEU landing on the USS Iwo Jima in the Caribbean, confirming the ongoing activity of the group in the region.
Among the most notable operations of the deployment is the capture of the oil tanker Verónica on January 15, 2026, in international waters, the sixth interdiction of vessels from the dark fleet recorded as part of Operation Southern Spear.
The official page of the USS Fort Lauderdale described the mission of the group as follows: "United States military forces are deployed in the Caribbean in support of the mission of Southern Command, operations led by the Department of Defense, and the president's priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland."
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