Navy searches for 10 sailors after USS McCain collision
Oil tanker involved is three times the size of missile destroyer
The U.S. Navy said 10 sailors were missing and five injured after the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker in waters east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca early Monday.
Initial reports indicated that the destroyer sustained damage to her port side aft. The Navy said search-and-rescue efforts were underway.
Four of the injured were taken by a Republic of Singapore navy Puma helicopter to a hospital in Singapore to be treated for nonlife-threatening injuries, according to the Navy. The fifth injured sailor did not need further treatment and remained on the ship.
Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, tweeted, “Our first priority is determining the safety of the ship and crew. As more information is learned, we will share it.”
The collision was reported at 6:24 a.m. Japan Standard Time, while the ship was en route to a routine port visit in Singapore, the Navy said. After the collision, the ship headed to port under its own power, the Navy said.
The other ship, the Alnic MC, is a 600-foot oil and chemical tanker with a gross tonnage of 30,000. The tanker is about three times the size of the McCain, the Navy Times reported.
The incident is the second serious collision for a Navy vessel in two months. The USS Fitzgerald collided with a freighter off the coast of Japan on June 17, leaving seven sailors dead.
Last week, the Navy relieved the Fitzgerald’s skipper and two top sailors of their command for losing “situational awareness” in the hours leading up to the collision. About a dozen sailors in all face some punishment, including all of the destroyer’s watch, the Navy said.
The USS John S. McCain has played a small role in recent tensions with North Korea, carrying out a “freedom of navigation operation” Aug. 10, when it sailed to within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef, an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea, the Navy said this month. The operation came as President Trump seeks China’s cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.
The ship is named after John S. McCain Sr. and John S. McCain Jr., Navy admirals who were the grandfather and father, respectively, of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
McCain tweeted that he and his wife were “keeping America’s sailors aboard the USS John S. McCain in our prayers tonight — appreciate the work of search & rescue crews.”
Commissioned in 1994, the USS John S. McCain is part of the Navy’s 7th Fleet.
Built at Bath Iron Works in Maine, the ship is part of the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed naval forces; its home port is Yokosuka, Japan.
President Trump, asked about the incident as he returned to the White House from a two-week working vacation Sunday, said, “That’s too bad.”
A couple of hours later, he tweeted that his “thoughts & prayers” were with the crew of the ship.