The United States' largest naval aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, and three support ships arrived in Hong Kong early Thursday for a routine port visit.

The ship has visited the city several times, and its last visit was in 2004, said Lieutenant Commander John Filostrat, who is in charge of the ship's public affairs.

At a press briefing on the flight deck, Rear Admiral John W. Goodwin, commander of Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, said the Lincoln departed from San Diego of the United States in March. The battle group pulled into Hong Kong early Thursday following five weeks of exercises with the Japan Maritime self-defense Force and the Republic of Korea navy.

"Hong Kong is one of my favorite ports in the whole world," Goodwin said. He said all the crew members will experience the life of the city for an extended weekend before heading back to sea to continue their scheduled Western Pacific deployment.

There are a total of 7,000 crew members on the four ships, including 6,000 on USS Abraham Lincoln. These crew members are expected to pump around 35.7 million Hong Kong dollars (about 4.61 million U.S. dollars) into the local economy as they go ashore for shopping, sightseeing and carousing, said Susan N. Stevenson, information officer of the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong.

USS Abraham Lincoln is America's fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The ship was named in honor of United States' 16th president and is the second ship in the US Navy to bear the name.

The nuclear-powered ship is 333 meters long, and its flight deck width is about 77 meters. The flight deck area of the Lincoln is about 1.82 hectares. Its full load displacement is approximately 100,000 tons.

Source: Xinhua