TIME WARP

U.S. Sailors Go Ashore After Months at Sea—and Can’t Even Get a Damn Drink

COVID has meant sailors lose out on port visits, which usually allow them to experience the world more.

Navy sailors aboard the USS Porter thought they had seen the last of the COVID-19 pandemic last month, ready to hit the town in the country of Georgia last month. The one problem? All the bars were closed. It was a sign that, while the Navy waited to enjoy the world, the world may not have been ready for its return. The military branch had prevented sailors from taking “liberty”—docking at worldwide ports for its sailors to disembark and explore—since the start of the COVID pandemic, hoping its pause would lessen the risk of getting the virus. It even forced the crew of the USS Stout to sail for about 215 days without a port visit. However, it seemed to have a tragic side effect: preventing those sailors from seeing the world. “The sailors did it. It was not easy,” Vice Adm. Gene Black, the head of naval operations in Europe, told The Wall Street Journal.