US orders fleet- wide probe after 2nd collision

Divers find human remains in warship

US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift on Tuesday said divers have found human remains inside the USS John S.

McCain, which collided with a merchant vessel this week.

On Tuesday US Navy divers joined the hunt and were set to search compartments in damaged parts of the ship which were flooded during the accident.

“The divers were able to locate some remains in those sealed compartments during their search today,” Swift told reporters at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base, where the damaged vessel is docked.

Swift also said the US Navy was working to identify a body found by the Malaysian navy to see if it was one of 10 missing US sailors in the accident.

The USS John S. McCain and the tanker Alnic MC collided on Monday while the US ship was nearing Singapore on a routine port call. The impact tore a hole in the warship’s port side at the waterline, flooding compartments that included a crew sleeping area.

The US Navy announced a fleet- wide global investigation after the latest in a series of warship accidents.

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson ordered commanders within a week to set aside time, perhaps “one or two days,” for crews to sit down together after the destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with a tanker off Singapore early Monday.

“As you know, this is the second collision in three months and the last of a series of incidents in the Pacific theater,” Richardson said. “This trend demands more forceful action. As such, I have directed an operational pause be taken in all of our fleets around the world.”

The admiral did not rule out some kind of outside interference or a cyberattack being behind the latest collision, but said he did not want to prejudge the inquiry. His broader remarks suggested a focus on “how we do business on the bridge.”

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, on a visit to Jordan, said Richardson’s “broader inquiry will look at all related accidents, incidents at sea, that sort of thing. He is going to look at all factors, not just the immediate one.”

A major search involving ships and aircraft from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the US is under way for other missing sailors.