What's going on? Two serious collisions in the same area of operations so soon after each other.
21 August 2017: The Guardian
Quote:
Ten US sailors missing after destroyer USS John S McCain collides with oil tanker
Ten American sailors are missing and five injured after the guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Singapore.
Singaporean, Malaysian and US search and rescue teams, consisting of patrol ships, helicopters and tug boats, were deployed to the area to look for the missing crew.
The US navy said the warship had “sustained damage to her port side aft” in the collision with the Alnic MC east of the straits of Malacca and Singapore. The head of the Malaysian navy posted a photo of the US ship with damage to its hull.
The incident is the second collision involving a ship from the US navy’s 7th fleet in the Pacific in two months. Seven sailors died in June when the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship hit each other in waters off Japan.
“There are currently 10 sailors missing and five injured,” the navy said in a statement posted on the website of the commander of the US Pacific Fleet.
It said four of the injured were taken by a Singapore navy helicopter to a hospital in Singapore for “non-life threatening injuries” and the fifth injured sailor did not require further medical attention.
“Search and rescue efforts” were underway in coordination with local authorities after the incident at 5.24am local time on Monday.
The US warship was returning “under its own power” to Singapore, the navy statement said, where it had been due for a routine port visit.
The statement gave no other details about the missing crew. The incident would be investigated, it said.
More at
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... oil-tankerThe guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain returns to port in Singapore on Monday with damage visible on the hull. Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters