A congressional committee in the United States has expressed concerns to the Secretary of the Navy regarding a plan to relocate fuel from Hawaii to storage facilities across the Indo-Pacific. The committee has raised doubts about the preparedness of the U.S. military for potential conflicts in the region.
In a letter dated January 17, Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives’ select committee on China, emphasized to Secretary Carlos Del Toro that redistributing fuel from Hawaii’s Red Hill underground bulk storage facility is vital, given China’s substantial military expansion.
The Red Hill facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, dating back to the 1940s, began to be emptied by the Pentagon in October due to a leak that contaminated the water supply. The plan is to transport the fuel to existing support sites, with the full closure of the facility expected to take several years.
Gallagher expressed skepticism about the Defense Department’s long-term solution and cautioned that without a robust logistics network for fuel supply to U.S. bases, ships, and aircraft in the Pacific, the U.S. military’s operations in the region could face severe disruptions.
He also raised questions about how the Navy plans to replace and distribute the bulk fuel capacity of Red Hill, pointing out that establishing storage capacity at new dispersed locations would necessitate more frequent trips by ships across the Pacific, thereby increasing operational risks.
In response, a Navy spokesperson indicated that they would provide a suitable response to the congressional correspondence.
Military experts have previously warned about gaps in U.S. defense logistics, particularly as China expands its military capabilities and retains the option of using force to assert control over Taiwan.
Gallagher noted that the existing Tanker Security Program, which relies on commercial tankers to provide fuel during crises, would not be sufficient to address the Navy’s needs. He highlighted a shortage of ships, which would be required to transport and deliver fuel to U.S. bases and forces across the Indo-Pacific.
Gallagher’s letter requested detailed information regarding the department’s plans for forward fuel storage facilities, access to refinery capacity in the Indo-Pacific, identification of secure locations for Red Hill replacements, and plans for integrating facilities of allies and partners in fuel redistribution.
The importance of fuel storage in the region has been underscored by recent controversies, such as the U.S. delivering fuel from Hawaii to Subic Bay in the Philippines, which raised concerns about potential unauthorized extensions of military supply agreements.
