On August 21, ten US navy soldiers were reported missing after their USS destroyer collided with an oil tanker in the early hours.
What happened?
The US Navy guided-missile destroyer ‘John S. McCain’ collided with an Oil tanker ‘Alnic MC’ in the early hours of Monday. The collision occurred off the east of Singapore, this is reported to be the fourth accident to have occurred in the Asian waters involving a US warship in 2017. The destroyer was making its way into the port of Singapore when it collided with the oil tanker which was passing near the entrance of the Malacca Strait, one of the busiest and congested shipping routes in the World.
Navy vessel flooded:
The navy vessel was flooded in several places after sustaining damage to its port (rear left) side and it had limited propulsion and electrical power. The vessel is currently steaming under its own power to Changi Naval Base in Singapore. A photo released by the Malaysian navy showed what appeared to be a large hole on the McCain’s waterline.
CNN military analyst Rick Francona said, “I can almost guarantee you that there will be a tumultuous shake up in the senior leadership of at least the 7th Fleet and maybe the Navy in general. The Navy is not looking good about now, especially when we need those four Aegis-equipped ships for possible ballistic missile defense in a North Korean scenario”.
Two other Aegis warships have been involved in incidents in the western Pacific this year — one ran aground, while the other collided with a fishing boat.
Oil tanker massive than US destroyer:
Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, said the oil tanker was at least three times bigger than the USS John S. McCain.
He further added, “Oil tankers are huge and it takes miles for them to change course. When you’re going into a congested channel, you’re supposed to be very alert, track ships around you to a very meticulous degree”.
Francona asked, “No matter what the tanker did, the faster, more-nimble US destroyer should have been able to avoid a collision. How does a state-of-the-art Navy destroyer equipped with multiple radar systems and communications gear with a full bridge watch not see, detect and evade a 30,000 ton slow-moving (10 knots) behemoth?”
SAR launched to find 10 missing soldiers:
During the collision, 10 soldiers were reported missing and five sailors were injured in the collision. The injured sailors were airlifted to a hospital in Singapore.
Search and rescue efforts are underway, with helicopters and Marine Corps Osprey aircraft from the amphibious assault ship USS America responding. Singaporean ships and helicopters were also responding.
Malaysia’s Navy said that its vessels and an aircraft had joined the search for the missing sailors.
A US Navy official told CNN the McCain had experienced a loss of steering before the collision, but that steering had been regained.
Oil tanker sustains damages:
The Oil tanker sustained damages to the tank at its bow, about seven meters (23 feet) above the waterline. No one was injured on the tanker and no oil spill was reported. The authorities have initiated investigation to determine the cause of the incident. A detailed report is expected to be released soon regarding the incident.
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Source: CNN
