Navy destroyer collides with tanker; 10 missing

SEOUL — Ten U.S. Navy sailors were missing and five were injured after the John S. McCain guided missile destroyer and an oil tanker three times its size collided near Singapore early Monday.

American and Singaporean ships and helicopters were involved in a search-and-rescue mission after the predawn collision at the entrance to one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

This is the second time in two months that a Navy destroyer based at the 7th Fleet’s home port of Yokosuka, Japan, has been involved in a collision at sea. Seven sailors were killed when the Fitzgerald collided with a container ship south of Japan in June.

The McCain, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer equipped with Aegis missiles, had been on its way to a routine port visit in Singapore after patrolling in the South China Sea. Shipping data showed that the Liberianflagged merchant vessel Alnic MC was also on its way to Singapore when the vessels collided east of the Strait of Malacca at 5:24 a.m. local time, while it was still dark.

The 550-mile-wide strait runs between the Malaysian peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans. It is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, but is also well traversed and well governed, analysts say.

The Alnic is more than three times the size of the McCain, with a gross tonnage of 30,000 tons.

Initial reports indicated that the destroyer sustained damage to its port side at the rear, but was later sailed under its own power and headed to port in Singapore.

The Navy’s 7th Fleet said that Navy Seahawk helicopters and Ospreys had been mobilized for the rescue effort, joining tugboats from Singapore, a Singapore navy ship and helicopters, and a Singapore police coast guard vessel.

“Our first priority is determining the safety of the ship and crew,” Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations, wrote via Twitter.

President Trump, returning to the White House on Sunday night, responded to reporters’ questions about the collision by saying: “That’s too bad.”

This collision comes just days after the Navy issued a damning report listing errors that led to a collision between the Fitzgerald — also a Yokosuka-based Arleigh Burke-class destroyer — and a much larger container ship just south of Japan in June.

The Navy said last week that it would discipline a dozen sailors who were aboard the Fitzgerald, including the top two officers and the top enlisted sailor, whose careers are almost certainly over.

The McCain is named after the father and grandfather of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. John S. McCain Sr. and John S. McCain Jr. served as admirals in the Navy during World War II.