The U.S. Department of Defense is projecting that the floating pier, which it used to transport aid to Palestinians until it broke on May 25 and had to be taken offline for repairs, will cost more than 25% less than expected.
Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. Central Command’s Joint Logistics, Over-the-Shore—the technical name for the pier—is expected to cost $90 million less. It was predicted to cost $320 million.
The new estimate, $230 million, includes costs of repairs, Singh said.
“Costs for contracted trucks, drivers and commercial vessels were lower than expected and the United Kingdom contributed a berthing vessel for soldiers and sailors,” the Pentagon said.
Singh added “a reminder, these are estimates and initial assessments,” and “the cost could fluctuate depending on the length of the mission and future cost—an example of that being additional repairs.”
She added that the repairs could be done, and the pier delivered and reattached to the shore as soon as the end of the week. “As soon as the temporary pier is re-anchored to the beach in Gaza, we expect aid to flow pretty immediately,” she said.