A Brief Survey On Arma 3 Seaports

Naval warfare, even including smaller patrol boats have been neglected in Arma 3.  We have some good ones, though, including the Royal New Zealand frigate in the CUPS vehicle corral.  Zero commercial cargo ships exist and this for a game which recently released a brand new map with 40+ kilometers of new coastline and several ports, Tanoa.

But how usable are the ports in Arma 3 and its ported maps?

I went over several terrains recently, using the New Zealand frigate to get an idea of how well those ports could handle big ships:

• Location/Map                    Type Ship         Tugboat Required  Usable Piers
• Moschnyi, Moschnyi        Geared/Cargo   N                            1
• Novakvice, Moschnyi       Normal/Cargo   Y                           1
• Chernogorsk,Chernarus    Geared/Cargo    Y                           2
• Elektrozavodsk,Chernarus Normal/Cargo  N                           2
• Berezino, Chernarus         Either                 Y                           3
• Kamenyy,Utes                  Geared/Cargo    N                           1
• Kavala, Altis                    Geared/Cargo    N                           1
• Pyrgos, Altis                     Geared/Cargo    N                          3
• Neochori, Altis                 Geared/Cargo    N                           1
• Modrava, Nogova             Geared/Cargo    Y                           1
• Vidlakov, Nogova             Geared/Cargo    N                          1

Ship with drafts of larger than the frigate can not be used in the ports listed above, and that is a major reason why Arma 3 needs what are classified as regional carriers, AKA bulk carriers, AKA minibulkers.  Also, all ships in order to access all the ports listed above, should be geared with some kind of crane to enable loading and unloading.  Ungeared ships will not be able to load or unload in those ports indicated with the word geared. All the piers indicate piers large and wide enough to accept trucks.

Also included are whether a tugboat would be required to move cargo ships in and out of port.  A tugboat is not available in any Arma 3 mod at the moment.  At issue also are how deep channels are leading to the port.  You don't want your cargo ship stuck on a sandbar without a tugboat available, do you?

Why is this important?  The lion's share of focus on having cargo ship of any kind is for specops/police scenarios where the Good Guys can fast rope onto the ship to save the day.  But much more important, from the point of view of realism should be for transporting heavy forces  and for supplying those forces. 

The Russians, directly next door to Syria needed the use of ports to supply/support their ongoing air campaign in Syria.

Not even the Big Four, China, Russian USA and France are dumb enough to think they can sustain a military campaign by air alone.  You need ships and you need ports those ships can use.