The USS John S. McCain with a hole on its port side. AFP photo
WASHINGTON: The US Navy announced a fleet-wide global investigation on Monday after the latest in a series of accidents left another 10 sailors missing and five more injured.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson ordered commanders to set aside time, perhaps “one or two days” within a week, for crews to sit down together after the destroyer USS John McCain collided with a tanker off Singapore.
And this will be carried out in parallel to the start of “comprehensive review” of practices.
“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 cyber attack being behind the collision, but said he did not want to prejudge the inquiry and 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 enquiry 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.”
Ten US sailors were still missing after Monday’s collision between the McCain and the Alnic MC in the busy shipping lanes of the Singapore Strait, near the Strait of Malacca, which left a large hole in the USS John McCain’s hull.
It was the second accident involving an American warship since mid-June. A major search involving ships and aircraft from Singapore, Malaysia and the US was launched for the missing sailors.
The badly damaged destroyer limped into port in the southeast Asian city-state of Singapore under escort after the dramatic pre-dawn accident, which sent water flooding into the vessel.
– ‘Full transparency’ –
Analysts said the accident, which came after June’s collision off Japan involving a US warship, raised questions about whether the US Navy was overstretched in Asia as it seeks to combat Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
The US Navy said there was “significant damage to the hull” of the John McCain, which led to flooding of crew sleeping areas, machinery and communications rooms.
“Damage control efforts by the crew halted further flooding,” they said in a statement.
A helicopter took four of the injured to a Singapore hospital for treatment, while the fifth did not need further medical attention, the navy said.
The 505-foot (154-meter) vessel could still sail under its own power after the collision with the Liberian-flagged tanker, which was slightly bigger at 600 feet. Two other vessels escorted it into port.
The warship had been heading for a routine stop in Singapore after carrying out a “freedom of navigation operation” in the disputed South China Sea earlier in August around a reef in the Spratly Islands, sparking a furious response from Beijing. – AFP