The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) set sail south towards the Caribbean Sea from off the coast of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, over the past 59 minutes ending at 7:16 PM UTC on Jan. 26, 2026, according to an update on X by @daopz. The X post reported activity by the aircraft carrier alongside tugboats off the Charlotte Amalie coast, indicating its departure, with the information translated from Spanish and timestamped within the reporting window from 6:17 PM UTC. This movement follows recent US military actions in the region, including an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during which Venezuelan forces fired Russian-supplied anti-aircraft weapons at US troops, as stated by Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Sergei Melik-Bagdasárov in an interview with Rossia 24 channel earlier on Jan. 26, according to an EFE report shared by @PanAmPost_es on X.
