Whoever happened to visit the Grand Harbour area or looked out from the Upper Barrakka Gardens on Monday was greeted by a different sight than the usual cruise liners.
The US Navy vessel USS Arlington moored at Pinto Wharf in Valletta on Sunday afternoon for a scheduled courtesy visit during its second deployment.
Commissioned in 2013, the USS Arlington (LPD 24) is one of three ships built to commemorate the victims and first responders of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the other two vessels being the USS New York and the USS Somerset.

The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship pays tribute to those lost in the attack on the Pentagon, as well as those who served in its aftermath and is named after Arlington, Virginia, where the headquarters of the US Department of Defence is located.
She transports and lands Marines, their equipment and supplies by embarked landing craft air cushions (LCACs) or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) augmented by helicopters or vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
Arlington, whose personnel counts 400 sailors and 700 marines, can support amphibious assault, special operations or expeditionary warfare…