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| USS John S. McCain collides with merchant ship near Strait of Malacca |
| 2017-08-21 |
| Likely drifted left post-election SOUTH CHINA SEA - The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC while underway east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca on Aug. 21. The collision was reported at 6:24 a.m. Japan Standard Time, while the ship was transiting to a routine port visit in Singapore. Initial reports indicate John S. McCain sustained damage to her port side aft. Search and rescue efforts are underway in coordination with local authorities. |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #25 Rambler, my point was that simply having the right of way is insufficient in a case like this. I have the right of way as a pedestrian in a crosswalk, but it is not in my best interest to ignore the truck who fails to recognize it. After the Fitzgerald I would figure every Captain would have laid down double and triple safety policies, especially in hazardous places like Malacca. That said, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action. Depending on what you count, we are either at twice or four times, this year. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2017-08-21 23:40 |
| #24 Glen, gorb, the Rules of the Road do not distinguish between military and commercial vessels. Even though the McCain is more maneuverable than the other ship, if the other ship was approaching from the McCain's port, it was the other ship's responsibility to maneuver to avoid the collision. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2017-08-21 21:58 |
| #23 Does military have to give way to commercial? |
| Posted by: gorb 2017-08-21 21:01 |
| #22 Hmmm....anything about reduced crews on the more modern ships? Is watch their only duties or an additional duty? Number of hours on duty vs available (real) sleep - see sleep deprivation. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2017-08-21 18:47 |
| #21 McCain was by far the more maneuverable vessel, and should have had far better perception of the traffic and command-control, not to mention that after Fitzgerald its people should have been on high alert, sea rules of the road be damned. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2017-08-21 18:30 |
| #20 Time to install dashcams on the DDG's? |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2017-08-21 18:29 |
| #19 Let me expand on my previous remark about the difference between the Fitzgerald and McCain collisions. Under International Rules of the Road, if a ship is approaching you from starboard (right side), it is YOUR responsibility to avoid the collision. Turn, change speed, whatever it takes. For the Fitzgerald, the other ship was approaching from starboard. For the McCain, the other ship was apparently approaching from port (left side). Thus it was the other ship's responsibility to avoid the collision. The McCain should have tried to warn the other ship, via radio or whatever means it could. Once collision looked inevitable, a situation known as being in extremis, the McCain should have taken whatever action it could to avoid the collision. All of this should come out in the investigation. Understand that ships the size of the McCain do not stop or turn on a dime. They do not go from zero to 60 in seconds. As I said earlier, it probably won't matter for the career of the McCain's CO. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2017-08-21 17:02 |
| #18 "All" GPS does is tell you where you are at any given instant. It tells you nothing about anything in the vicinity. So if the Russians hacked the GPS, it still would have no effect on the collision wth another ship. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2017-08-21 16:40 |
| #17 Ask the Rantburg experts: 'Spot' may have beat me to it at #6. I know nothing about maritime matters, but could this possibly have anything to do with it ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-08-21 16:29 |
| #16 So the cream of the USN is getting its ass kicked by the merchant marines? |
| Posted by: Regular joe 2017-08-21 16:23 |
| #15 I was told (by an aquaintance at the five sided funny farm) that the Navy as averaged one Captain or Commander relieved of duty every two months for the last 12 years. (And it was 4 a year for the previous 20). Makes ya think... |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2017-08-21 16:00 |
| #14 One difference between the McCain and the Fitzgerald is that the McCain was hit on the port side, whereas the Fitzgerald was hit on the starboard side. Not that it's likely to make any difference to the career of the McCain's CO. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2017-08-21 15:47 |
| #13 You have to do an analysis of the watch standing crew and standing orders to diagnose is there is a systemic/quality control problem with crew training and qualifications. These are warships with state of the art sensors and night fighting systems being rammed by enormous, slow cargo ships. No coverup, but ruthless honesty is required because people have died and our naval competency is rightfully being questioned by adversaries. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2017-08-21 14:26 |
| #12 Seriously, WTF? We've just had two first-line surface combatants put out of action. That would be a pretty good day's work for a hostile sub commander. |
| Posted by: Matt 2017-08-21 13:59 |
| #11 The Strait of Malacca is one congested waterway. I checked with Marine Traffic app and you better be on your toes going through this chokepoint. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2017-08-21 11:53 |
| #10 The BSMedia will claim the merchant ship skipper is a Worse yet an awful lot of people will believe it! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2017-08-21 11:17 |
| #9 You cant hack the Boatswain Mates & Signalmen on watch Topside nor the Nav team, OOD, Conning Officer, and bridge lookouts. That is their purpouse in life - to keep eyes open and continuous comms, establishing the picture and maintaining situational awareness. I drove ships with far less electronic assistance. Nothing replaces alertness and attentiveness. I guarantee these incidents could have been prevented. There should be a shakeup of the 7th fleet going farther up than ships' Captains, safety standdowns and retraining/recerting of all bridge/lookout personnel. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2017-08-21 10:33 |
| #8 Worth noting, USS John S. McCain is named for senator Maverick McBackstabber's father and grandfather who were both flag officers in the USN. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2017-08-21 10:27 |
| #7 I don't see how the US navy could be hacked to cause this kind of accident as someone would always be at the helm of a navy ship in a congested straight and if the controls didn't follow their commands it would be very obvious. I think it is more likely that China hacked some civilian autopilot software and is using it to cause collisions with the US fleet. Even that I think is unlikely, just more likely. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2017-08-21 10:21 |
| #6 Interesting speculation: Did China Hack the Seventh Fleet? |
| Posted by: Spot 2017-08-21 09:34 |
| #5 Perchance was the Merchant vessel named "Lady Lindsey?" |
| Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2017-08-21 09:13 |
| #4 I'm starting to wonder if this isn't deliberate to reduce our naval forces in the Pacific. Who would benefit from that, I wonder? Yes the question is rhetorical. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2017-08-21 08:27 |
| #3 These incidents don't leave me with a lot of confidence in our modern navy's ability if they had to engage an enemy. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2017-08-21 07:22 |
| #2 Likely drifted left post-election Or maybe just forgot where it was going. Look, squirrel! I hate to say it, but these incidents seem *really* unprofessional. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2017-08-21 00:42 |
| #1 The BSMedia will claim the merchant ship skipper is a Trump supporter. |
| Posted by: Hupeting Sforza8196 2017-08-21 00:37 |