USS John S. McCain Collides With Tanker Off Singapore

Ten sailors are missing and five reported injured.

August 21, 2017 10:27 am
USS John S. McCain Collides With Oil Tanker in Singaporean Waters
The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain is seen with a hole on its portside after a collision with an oil tanker outside Changi naval base in Singapore on August 21, 2017. Ten US sailors were missing and five injured after their destroyer collided with a tanker east of Singapore early on August 21, the second accident involving an American warship in two months. (Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images)

Just days after the U.S. Navy released its official report on a deadly collision one of its destroyers sustained in Japanese waters, another incident has occurred, this time, off of Singapore.

According to NBC News, the USS John S. McCain, a 505-foot-long ship, collided with the 600-foot, 30,000-ton Alnic MC, an oil tanker, which was flying a Libyan flag.

The ship is named after Senator John McCain’s father and grandfather, both of whom were admirals in the Navy, and the senator tweeted his concern for the ship.

At press time, 10 sailors were missing, and five reported injured, which took place at 5:24 a.m. Singapore time (5:24 p.m. ET).

Per the U.S. Navy, the damage to its destroyer’s hull was significant, causing flooding in the crew’s sleeping quarters, as well as machinery and communications areas.

Besides the incident involving the USS Fitzgerald and now the John S. McCain, the U.S. Navy has sustained two other collisions in just over a year. The USS Champlain collided with a South Korean shipping boat on May 9, while the USS Louisiana collided with a naval port vessel off the coast of the state of Washington last August.

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