US aircraft carrier on way to relieve USS Lincoln after issues reported on board

A US aircraft carrier is headed to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, on which thousands of sailors have reportedly faced food shortages and difficult conditions on an extended, nine-month deployment.

The USS George Washington, which was near Malaysia on Thursday, could arrive in the region in about nine days, BBC analysis shows.

Family members of sailors onboard the Lincoln have expressed concern about their mental health deteriorating due to the conditions, with some sailors having reportedly attempted to jump overboard.

While the US Navy has acknowledged supply challenges, it has denied that a mental health crisis is taking place on the Lincoln, which has 5,000 onboard.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, President Donald Trump denied that family members were concerned about the welfare of their relatives and dismissed the possibility that the deployment had been too long.

"Not nearly long enough," he said.

Trump also confirmed that another ship will replace the Lincoln, although he did not identify it by name.

Citing a US official, CBS News - the BBC's US partner - reported that the George Washington left a naval facility in Yokosuka, Japan in May to patrol the Pacific region and is now headed to replace the Lincoln.

Tracking data compiled by BBC Verify shows that at its last recorded speed, the vessel would reach Duqm port in Oman, about 500 miles off the coast of Iran, around 22 August.

Once it arrives in the Middle East, it will be the third aircraft carrier in the area. The USS George HW Bush is also there. No US aircraft carrier will remain in the Pacific.

The Lincoln has been at sea since 11 December on a deployment that was initially slated to end in May, tracking data compiled by BBC Verify shows.

Earlier this week, the Military Times and Stars & Stripes reported that the families of multiple sailors reported that their loved ones considered jumping overboard due to conditions on the vessel.

The conditions have reportedly included poor sanitation, infrequent ports-of-call, broken plumbing, exhaustion and shortages of fresh food.

In an interview with the BBC, a relative of a sailor on the Lincoln claimed that their family member had lost 65lbs (29kg) since the ship headed out to sea and had been suffering from exhaustion because of the constant noise of aircraft and the ship's vibrations.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to concerns about retaliation, said that their relative confirmed sailors had attempted to jump from the ship.

Jefferson Kelly, whose son Jackson is on the Lincoln, told CBS that he has grown concerned for his son after nearly nine months at sea. Deployments typically last about six months.

"They should not be deployed this long," he said. "These are old ships. It's not like they're even state-of-the-art. And they take a lot of maintenance, a lot of work. It's around the clock."

"I would get on a plane or helicopter tonight if it meant bringing him home to his mom and his siblings and his family," he added.

The US Navy has denied any increase in suicidal behaviour on the Lincoln, but has acknowledged that supplies had been "disrupted by combat actions" during the war with Iran.

Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern over the conditions on the ship.

In a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao on Wednesday, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said that reports of shortages and poor conditions "warrant immediate attention".

"But they also raise a broader question: whether the Navy can sustain the operational tempo now being demanded of its carrier force," he added.

Hegseth has said that some of the media reports have been "completely misrepresented". He told reporters on Thursday that the US government was was making sure "every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment".

Conditions on US aircraft carrier at sea for more than 250 days raise alarms