Malibu residents attended a Naval Change-of-Command ceremony honoring Captain Chris Cegielski at Naval Station San Diego last Friday.
Cegielski gained local recognition in 2011 when he made the inaugural port visit to Malibu with his then Guided Missile Destroyer. At Friday’s ceremony, Malibu attendees questioned whether the captain will be able to schedule another Malibu port visit with his new Guided Missile Cruiser command — the USS Lake Champlain (CG 57).
“The ship has a very small window of slack-time to make a port visit to Malibu this year,” Cegielski said. “It all depends on the ship completing 100 percent of its pre-deployment qualification work-ups. The crew is aware and enthusiastic about the possibility of a weekend anchorage in Malibu and would like to make it happen.”
The USS Lake Champlain will be the Malibu Navy League’s newest adopted ship, and, in return, the nonprofit will provide assistance and support to the cruiser’s crew as requested.
“We hope to develop a very close relationship with the USS Lake Champlain, including ship visits and ship rides at sea for our Malibu Navy League members,” Malibu Navy League President and retired U.S. Navy Captain John Payne said.