Adm. Timothy J. Keating, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, has recommended that Navy ships off Myanmar continue with their operational commitments beginning Thursday because Myanmar's government has rebuffed U.S. Navy efforts to help following Cyclone Nargis.

The four-ship Essex group will head to the coast of Thailand to load helicopters and personnel on June 11, U.S. Pacific Command said today in a release. A stop in Hong Kong had been planned.

"Over the past three weeks we have made at least 15 attempts to convince the Burmese government to allow our ships, helicopters, and landing craft to provide additional disaster relief for the people of Burma, but they have refused us each and every time," Keating said. "It is time for the USS Essex group to move on to its next mission. However, we will leave several heavy lift aircraft in place in Thailand so as to continue to support international community efforts to deliver aid."

The USS Essex group has been positioned off the coast of Myanmar, also known as Burma, since May 13 to deliver humanitarian assistance to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, but Burma's ruling military junta has not allowed access to the ships.

Keating, who is headquartered at Camp Smith, added that "should the Burmese rulers have a change of heart and request our full assistance for their suffering people we are prepared to help."

Since Cyclone Nargis hit Burma on May 2, USAID and the Defense Department, the United Nations and other non-governmental organizations have completed a total of 106 airlifts carrying more than two million pounds of emergency relief supplies, benefiting at least 417,000 people, U.S. Pacific Command said.

Marine Corps and Air Force cargo planes have flown in relief supplies.

Keating flew to Rangoon, Burma on the first U.S. military relief flight May 12 along with Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore.

Keating hand-delivered a letter to Burma's leaders offering additional humanitarian assistance with heavy lift helicopters and landing craft capable of reaching areas inaccessible by road, as well as water-making and purification capability, and medical assistance, Pacific Command said.

He also extended an offer to the military junta to visit U.S. ships in international waters and to fly on U.S. military relief flights in an effort to help ease any concerns they might have regarding U.S. humanitarian assistance and intentions.

The four-ship Essex Group, 22 medium- and heavy-lift helicopters, four landing craft, and more than 5,000 U.S. military personnel have remained idle.

"I am both saddened and frustrated to know that we have been in a position to help ease the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people and help mitigate further loss of life, but have been unable to do so because of the unrelenting position of the Burma military junta," Keating said.