 The USS Carl Vinson entered the South China Sea after maneuvering the waters of the Lausanne Strait on its mission to promote regional stability and security in the western Pacific. The Strait provides passage for more than 30 percent of global trade shipping annually, which tested the crew's training. Carl Vinson's navigation officer, Commander James Zuleas, says his team stepped up to the challenge. The team as a whole did a great job. We did have some increased traffic density on the western side of the channel and I was particularly happy with the way that the bridge team and the tactical operations plot was leaning forward and assessing those contacts and how they could potentially impact us as we made our transit. And we haven't had a lot of shipping from the west coast through Hawaii and into Guam and so this is a big change for us and I was happy with the way that the team responded to that. After successfully maneuvering the transit, the Carl Vinson entered the South China Sea where it will continue to operate with foreign partner navies to promote regional stability and security while forward deployed. And we're continuing to exercise the teamwork and effectiveness as a carrier strike group in this region. We're also looking forward to the opportunities to build upon our relationships with the allies in the Asia-Indo-Pacific region.