10 sailors missing after US warship collides with tanker near Singapore

Ten sailors have gone missing after a US warship collided with an oil tanker east of Singapore on Monday, the US Navy said, the second accident involving US Navy destroyers in Asian waters in a little more than two months. The guided-missile destroyer USS John S McCain collided with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while heading to Singapore for a routine port call, the Navy said in a statement "Initial reports indicate John S McCain sustained damage to her port side aft," the Navy said. "There are currently 10 sailors missing and five injured." A search-and-rescue mission was underway involving Singaporean ships, helicopters and tug boats, as well as US Navy aircraft.

FYI, it's named after the OTHER John S. McCain folks, as in WWII...so don't even get started. #USSJohnSMcCain #USNavy

— William Andrade (@SirDarthUno) August 21, 2017

The warship was currently sailing under its own power and heading to port, the Navy said. The Alnic MC is a Liberian-flagged, 183 metre-long oil or chemical tanker of 50,760 deadweight tonnes, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon. Shipping data showed it last sent a transponder signal at 2258 on GMT Sunday and has since come to a halt 10-20km off the east coast of the Pengerang peninsula in Johor, southern Malaysia. The ship data showed it was "ballasting", meaning that it was not loaded full of oil for cargo. The waterways around Singapore are some of the busiest and most important in the world, carrying around a quarter of the world's trade in goods and oil. A map shows the location where the Alnic MC merchant vessel came to a halt after a collision with the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain east of Singapore August 21, 2017 ReutersThe US Navy said last week it had removed the two senior officers and the senior enlisted sailor on a US warship that almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after it was struck by a Philippine container ship. That collision killed seven US sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer the USS Fitzgerald. The USS Fitzgerald and USS John S McCain are both ballistic missile defence (BMD) capable ships and part of the same Japan-based destroyer squadron. The Seventh Fleet has six ships assigned to BMD patrols, with half of those out on patrol at any one time. Asked whether the US Navy would need to bring forward other ships to maintain its strength, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet said it was "way too early to know".

#USSJohnSMcCain #USNavy another naval collision. How can this happen with GPS and AIS??? https://t.co/osY7oBLuM4— Dr. Malcolm Davis (@Dr_M_Davis) August 21, 2017

North Korea threatened last week to fire ballistic missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam, ratcheting up tensions with US President Donald Trump, who had threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if it threatened the United States. The US Navy vessel involved in the latest collision is named for the father and grandfather of US Republican Senator John McCain, who were both admirals in the United States Navy. "Cindy & I are keeping America's sailors aboard the USS John S McCain in our prayers tonight - appreciate the work of search & rescue crews," McCain said on Twitter. Senator McCain is a Vietnam War-era naval aviator who was shot down and held prisoner for five-and-a-half years. He is now undergoing treatment for brain cancer.