The US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has departed from the South China Sea toward the Middle East amid escalating hostilities between Iran and Israel, according to MarineTraffic data. Last week, the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group conducted maritime security operations in the South China Sea as part of the US Navy’s routine presence in the Indo-Pacific. The carrier was originally scheduled to visit Da Nang Port in Vietnam later this week, but that visit has now been canceled due to regional tensions.