Although the USS Gerald R. Ford’s stay at Souda Bay, Crete was brief, its thousands of sailors still managed a taste of Greece at a staggering premium.
Forced into port for repairs following a thirty-hour laundry room fire in the Middle East, the crew was barred from leaving the dock for security reasons. To bridge the gap, local entrepreneurs established a makeshift food market directly on the K-14 pier.
Souvlaki at a premium
According to zarpanews.gr, the star of this pop-up market was the classic souvlaki wrap, which was sold to the “trapped” sailors for an eye-watering €17 each (almost $20), a price nearly 4 to 5 times the national average. Despite the price tag, the pita-gyros sandwich became an instant sell-out.
While some might call it price gouging, local analysts suggest this “economic blood transfusion” explains why many residents welcome the US 6th Fleet’s visits regardless of their political stance. For the sailors—exhausted from a ten-month deployment and months of plumbing issues—the chance to trade ship rations for a €17 taste of Crete was apparently a price they were willing to pay.
While in Souda Bay, Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center personnel, including structural engineers, naval architects, and other subject matter experts, conducted a repair assessment, and military and federal civilian law enforcement continued investigations into the fire.
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