The US Navy has announced a fleet-wide global investigation after the latest in a series of warship accidents left 10 sailors missing and five injured.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson ordered commanders within a week to set aside time, perhaps “one or two days,” for crews to sit down together after the destroyer USS John S. McCain collided with a tanker off Singapore early on Monday.
A “comprehensive review” of practices would also begin.
Photo: AFP
The broader review will look at the 7th Fleet’s performance, including personnel, navigation capabilities, maintenance, equipment, surface warfare training, munitions, certifications and how sailors move through their careers.
Richardson said the review will be conducted with the help of the Navy’s office of the inspector general, the safety center and private companies that make equipment used by sailors.
‘FORCEFUL ACTION’
“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 cyberattack being behind the latest collision, but said he did not want to prejudge the inquiry.
His broader remarks suggested a focus on “how we do business on the bridge.”
Ten US sailors were still missing after the collision between the McCain and the Alnic MC in the busy shipping lanes of the Singapore Strait.
The collision tore a gaping hole in the McCain’s left rear hull and flooded adjacent compartments, including crew berths and machinery and communication rooms.
A major search involving ships and aircraft from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the US is under way for the missing sailors.
REMAINS FOUND
US Navy divers yesterday joined the hunt, searching compartments in damaged parts of the ship which were flooded during the accident.
Admiral Scott Swift, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, told a news conference in Singapore that the divers had found some remains in a compartment of the McCain, while Malaysian officials had found one body.
“We will continue the search and rescue operations until the probability of discovering sailors is exhausted,” he said.
Earlier in the day Swift had visited a hospital where four injured sailors were recovering. The fifth did not need hospitalizaton.
The amphibious assault ship USS America — which also arrived in Singapore on Monday — was providing support to crew members from the McCain and helping to drain water from the warship and repair damaged systems.
There was no immediate explanation for the collision.
Singapore is one of the world’s busiest ports and its naval base is regularly visited by US warships.
Analysts said the accident, following June’s collision off Japan involving a US warship which killed seven US seamen, raised questions about whether the Pacific-based 7th Fleet is overstretched in Asia as it seeks to combat Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
There were also two lesser-known incidents in the first half of the year.
In January, the USS Antietam guided missile cruiser ran aground near Yokosuka base, the home port of the 7th Fleet, and in May another cruiser, the USS Lake Champlain from the Navy’s 3rd Fleet, had a minor collision with a South Korean fishing boat.
The McCain been heading for a routine stop in Singapore after carrying out a “freedom of navigation operation” in the disputed South China Sea earlier this month around a reef in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島).
CHINESE COMMENTARY
Meanwhile, a Chinese newspaper yesterday said that the US Navy’s latest collision shows it is becoming an increasing risk to shipping in Asia despite its claims of helping to protect freedom of navigation.
An editorial in the state-run China Daily said that people will wonder why such a sophisticated navy keeps having these problems.
“The investigations into the latest collision will take time to reach their conclusions, but there is no denying the fact that the increased activities by US warships in Asia-Pacific since Washington initiated its rebalancing to the region are making them a growing risk to commercial shipping,” the newspaper said.
“While the US Navy is becoming a dangerous obstacle in Asian waters, China has been making joint efforts with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to draw up a code of conduct for the South China Sea and it has boosted navigational safety by constructing five lighthouses on its islands,” the China Daily said.
“Anyone should be able to tell who is to blame for militarizing the waters and posing a threat to navigation,” it added.
Additional reporting by AP and Reuters
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