U.S. divers search for 10 missing sailors in hull of damaged destroyer
YemenExtra
U.S. Navy and Marine Corps divers began searching sealed sections of the damaged hull of a U.S. warship on Tuesday for 10 sailors missing since the guided-missile destroyer collided with a merchant vessel near Singapore, the U.S. Navy said.
The USS John S. McCain and the tanker Alnic MC collided while the guided-missile vessel was nearing Singapore for a routine port call. The collision tore a hole in the warship’s port side at the waterline, flooding compartments that included a crew sleeping area.
On Tuesday, ships, aircraft and divers from an international search-and-rescue operation were still looking for the missing U.S. sailors in an area to the east of Singapore and peninsula Malaysia, near to where the accident took place.
The collision – the fourth major accident in the U.S. Pacific fleet this year – prompted a fleet-wide investigation and plans for temporary halts in operations to focus on safety.
The U.S. Seventh Fleet said in a statement on its website on Tuesday that divers equipped with surface-supplied air rigs will access sealed compartments located in damaged parts of the ship, which is now docked in Singapore.
“Additionally, they will conduct damage assessments of the hull and flooded areas,” the statement said.
Immediate efforts by the ship’s crew after the collision on Monday were able to halt flooding into other parts of the vessel’s hull, the statement said.
Divers involved in the search come from the U.S. Navy’s Ship Repair Facility in Yokosuka, Japan and Commander Logistics Group Western Pacific and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
A CNN report on Tuesday, citing unidentified U.S. Navy officials, said early indications suggested the collision was caused by a steering malfunction as the warship approached the Strait of Malacca. A U.S. Navy spokesman contacted by Reuters could not immediately comment on the report.
The U.S. Navy said in a statement late on Monday that aircraft from the amphibious assault ship the USS America, which was in port at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base, would continue searching for the missing sailors.
They joined aircraft and vessels from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia already searching in the area.