Ray Mabus, Secretary of the United States Navy, is in Malta for a short visit during which he will meet US Ambassador Douglas Kmiec and also Maltese government and military officials today, The Times has learnt.

There is no official agenda for his meetings although Mr Mabus will be informed about US-Maltese naval cooperation and opportunities for further cooperation.

Mr Mabus is also expected to visit historical sites and learn about the island’s naval history.

As Navy Secretary, Mr Mobus leads America’s Navy and Marine Corps and is responsible for an annual budget in excess of $150 billion and almost 900,000 people. He is directly responsible to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Mr Mabus, 60, is a Democrat who campaigned extensively for Barack Obama in the 2008 US presidential campaign. He was Governor of Mississippi from January 1988 to January 1992 and served as US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996 under President Bill Clinton.

Last June, President Obama asked Mr Mabus to prepare a long-term recovery plan for the Gulf of Mexico in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. His report, America’s Gulf Coast: A Long-Term Recovery Plan After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, was released in September and was met with broad bi-partisan support.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.