10 missing, 5 injured after US Navy missile destroyer collides with merchant ship

World
Europe

Ten US Navy sailors are missing and five others were injured after a US guided-missile destroyer collided with a merchant ship near Singapore, the US Navy has said.

Second collision

The USS John S. McCain collided with the Alnic MC, an oil and chemical tanker, near the east of Singapore and the Straits of Malacca on early Monday.

The site is considered as the busiest and most important waterways in the world that carry a quarter of the world's trade in goods and oil.

The accident took place as the destroyer was making its way to a port visit in Singapore.

Initial reports said that John S. McCain sustained damage to its left rear side. Search and rescue efforts are underway.

Malaysian Navy, Air Force and Maritime vessels and aircraft have been deployed for search and rescue operation, after USS John S. McCain collided with an oil and chemical tanker in waters off Singapore early Monday. /Royal Malaysian Navy Photo

It is the second accident involving a US Navy destroyer in Asian waters in little more than two months.

In June, seven navy sailors were killed after the USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine container ship off the coast of Japan.

Last week, the US Navy said two senior officers were removed in the wake of USS Fitzgerald collision which almost led to the sink of the warship.

This is also the fourth incident involving a US Navy warship stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base in Tokyo Bay this year.

USS John S. McCain is named for the father and grandfather of US Republican Senator John McCain, who were both admirals in the United States Navy.

No oil spill

The oil tanker Alnic MC was carrying nearly 12,000 tonnes of fuel oil when it collided with the US warship, but there was no oil spill after the incident.

"We are carrying 11,987 tonnes of fuel oil. There is no oil spill. We were carrying fuel oil from Taiwan to discharge to Singapore ... We are proceeding to Raffles Reserved Anchorage where the owners will investigate the matter. There was some damage to the valve," a crew member who did not want to be identified, told Reuters via telephone.

The tanker is a Liberian-flagged, 183 meter-long oil or chemical tanker of 50,760 deadweight tonnes.

According to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon, it last sent a transponder signal at 2258 GMT Sunday and has since come to a halt 10-20 km (6-12 miles) off the east coast of the Pengerang peninsula in Johor, southern Malaysia.

Singapore's maritime and port authority said that no oil pollution was reported yet and the traffic in the Singapore Strait is unaffected.