10 US Navy sailors missing after destroyer collides with merchant ship

(CNN)Ten US Navy sailors are missing after a US Navy guided-missile destroyer collided with an oil tanker east of Singapore early Monday, the fourth accident in Asia waters involving a US warship in 2017.

The Navy's 7th Fleet said the USS John S. McCain collided with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while the destroyer was making its way to a port visit in Singapore. The collision was reported at 5:24 am local time, as the ship was passing near to the Malacca Strait, one of the world's most congested shipping routes.

A Navy official told CNN the McCain was fighting flooding in several places after sustaining damage to its aft port (rear left) side and that it had limited propulsion and electrical power. The Navy said the McCain was currently steaming under its own power to port.

Military experts said the latest incident, which comes after seven US sailors aboard the USS Fitzgerald died in a collision off the coast of Japan in June, calls into question the Navy's training and will likely lead to a serious shake-up among the Navy's leadership

The McCain is equipped with the Aegis missile defense system, which has been touted as a possible counter to any North Korean missile launch. If it is out of action after Monday's collision, it would be at least the second of 10 Aegis warships based in Japan to be unavailable for deployment.

"I can almost guarantee you that there will be a tumultuous shake up in the senior leadership of at least the 7th Fleet and maybe the Navy in general," CNN military analyst Rick Francona said.

"The Navy is not looking good about now, especially when we need those four Aegis-equipped ships for possible ballistic missile defense in a North Korean scenario," he added.

Two other US warships have been involved in incidents this year -- one ran aground, while the other collided with a fishing boat.

Oil tanker 'three times bigger'

Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center, said the oil tanker would have been at least three times bigger than the USS John S. McCain.

"Oil tankers are huge and it takes miles for them to change course. Malacca Strait is the most congested shipping area in the world. The most narrow point is only 2 nautical miles across," he said.

"When you're going into a congested channel, you're supposed to be very alert, track ships around you to a very meticulous degree."

The tanker Alnic MC

Francona said no matter what the tanker did, the faster, more-nimble US destroyer should have been able to avoid a collision.

"How does a state-of-the-art Navy destroyer equipped with multiple radar systems and communications gear with a full bridge watch not see, detect and evade a 30,000 ton slow-moving (10 knots) behemoth?" Francona asked.

Search and rescue

In addition to the 10 missing sailors, the Navy said five were injured in the collision.

Search and rescue efforts are under way, the Navy statement said, with helicopters and Marine Corps Osprey aircraft from the amphibious assault ship USS America responding. Singaporean ships and helicopters were also responding, the Navy added.

Malaysia's Navy said on Twitter two of its vessels and an aircraft had joined the search for the missing sailors. A photo it released showed what appeared to be a large hole on the McCain's waterline.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com