A top-ranking US military official has told Newshub that America is considering sending a ship to mark the Royal New Zealand Navy's 75th anniversary in November.
It's the first indication a visit could be on the cards since the navy sent an invitation last year.
It would end a decades-long stalemate sparked by New Zealand's anti-nuclear movement. A US navy ship hasn't sailed into a New Zealand port since 1984.
In a rare on-the-record briefing at Pacific Command in Hawaii, Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery told Newshub that relations are "very strong".
"A decision has definitely not been made, although it's under review," he said.
He warned the relationship shouldn’t be judged on whether a ship attends.
"Our contributions, our cooperation together in Central Command, in combat has been exceptional over the last two decades. Our work together to build relationships within Oceania, along with Australia, has been significant.
"So I certainly wouldn't put our military partnership through the prism of a decision of a ship visit," he said.
But he responded coyly when pushed on whether he personally would want to send one, and encouraged patience.
"Yeah, I would like to see that we have completely normal relations with New Zealand," he said.
"It has time. I mean, I just decided to send a ship to Manila for something six days from now. Now I'm not saying we're going to wait till six days beforehand. Ship visit decision-making is something that you can't make a decision two months ahead or three months ahead -- as I remember this event's in November."
Any ship that did come would need to be a non-nuclear, but it looks likely the US could decide to send a surface vessel at the last minute to honour our navy's 75th anniversary, despite the US navy being absent for many of those decades.
Samantha Hayes is a Jefferson Fellow studying with the East-West Centre in Hawaii, China and Japan with the support of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
Newshub.
