Commander dismissed as navy announces ‘reset’

SINGAPORE: The United States Navy has dismissed the commander of the Asia-based 7th Fleet after a series of warship accidents raised questions about its operations in the Pacific Ocean.

A two-sentence statement said Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, had relieved Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin ’’due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.’’.

The move follows four accidents in the Pacific since late January, including two collisions that left sailors dead and missing.

Swift said the navy would carry out a ‘‘deliberate reset’' of all its ships in the Pacific, focused on navigation, mechanical systems and bridge resource management. It would include training and an expert assessment of each ship.

The navy said that Rear Admiral Phillip Sawyer, who had already been named as Aucoin’s successor, would assume command immediately.

On Tuesday, the destroyer USS John S Mccain and an oil tanker collided off Singapore, injuring five sailors and leaving 10 others missing. Seven sailors died in June when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off Japan.

Swift, speaking in Singapore, where the Mccain is now docked, said navy divers had found the remains of some of the missing sailors in a flooded compartment.

The 7th Fleet said a sea-based search east of Singapore was ‘‘expanding to encompass a greater area.’’

There were two lesser-known incidents in the first half of the year.

In January, the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam ran aground near Yokosuka in Japan, the home port of the 7th Fleet. In May, another cruiser, the USS Lake Champlain from the 3rd Fleet, had a minor collision with a South Korean fishing boat. –AP