Belknap played a role in the Malta Summit between U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev on 2 December and 3 December 1989. President Bush, along with his advisers, James Baker, John Sununu and Brent Scowcroft, had their sleeping quarters aboard Belknap, whereas the Soviet delegation used the missile cruiser Slava. The ships were anchored in a roadstead off the coast of Marsaxlokk. Stormy weather and choppy seas resulted in some meetings being canceled or rescheduled, and gave rise to the moniker the "Seasick Summit" among international media. In the end, the meetings took place aboard Maxsim Gorkiy, a Soviet cruise ship anchored in the harbor at La Valletta. Engineers from the Navy Ship Systems Engineering Station devised a mooring arrangement for this event, and, despite the worst-case 100-year storm event, Belknap held its ground using emergency operating procedures as outlined by the engineers.
