Another U.S. Navy destroyer collides with a merchant ship, rescue efforts underway

[TaiShang]

They will soon join the elite club of Supa Powa 2012!

Let's hope the US navy won't collide with China's islands in the SCS thinking that China-generated islands can maneuver faster than US navy vessels.

What a well-trained army.

North Korea could after all be in its right mind to take US threats and provocations lightly.

 

[jhungary]

I know for sure I won't give my car to him the second time even. Once bitten, twice cautious. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Even if someone else crashed into him and you got full insurance payout?

If so, then remind me not to be friend with you.

 

[CriticalThought]

Even if someone else crashed into him and you got full insurance payout?

If so, then remind me not to be friend with you.

Rationalists can arrive at pretty mean conclusions. Keeps them safe. Oh, and if the safety of an entire nation is at stake, excuses become inexcusable.

 

[TaiShang]

Bad omen for blood-thirsty Senator McCain who is undergoing some sort of cancer treatment.

I wonder if the "missing" 10 crew members were sacrificed just like the last time to save the ship from sinking like a rock.

 

[terranMarine]

I heard US Aircraft Carrier will be visiting monkeys' jungle. Friendly advice don't get near or else the Carrier will come smashing monkey ships

 

[Beast]

rest of the world would be less worry if they are unprofessional

They keep crashing their ship to harm innocent merchant ship. That is a threat to world.

 

[Hulk]

Don't you get it. It's America first.

Dude I am close to being a citizen here and cannot take anti-America jokes.

 

[j20blackdragon]

Believe it or not, navy destroyers can take evasive maneuvers to avoid collisions.

Or perhaps invest in a simple marine radar for recreational boats like this.

The 4-foot, 40 W solid-state Garmin GMR Fantom radar features MotionScope technology, which uses the Doppler effect to detect and highlight moving targets to help you avoid potential collisions.

Detection range of 20 feet to 72 nautical miles

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/533660

 

[Zsari]

OK. If this happens a third time, what would you say?

This is the third time already as in May USS Lake Champlain collided with a S.Korean fishing boat.

 

[yantong1980]

Arrogance? Just like 'Spanish lighthouse comedy' videos? I think it's part of uhmm....'freedom of navigation'?

 

[oprih]

Ramming another vessel is a professional maneuver patented by the us navy.

 

[jhungary]

Rationalists can arrive at pretty mean conclusions. Keeps them safe. Oh, and if the safety of an entire nation is at stake, excuses become inexcusable.

But then we can't really just do that.

There are many time I wish I can shoot these people before I can PID them, instead of risking my guys and let them make the first move first, problem is that if we shoot like a mad people, that's UNPROFESSIONAL for a soldier who are trained to risk their life in actions. We are soldiers, not killers. That's where PROFESSIONALISM goes.

This is the same with the Navy, or the whole US Armed Force, or even world armed force, that's where professionalism came from, I would rather have 6 of my guys, including me, killed by an ambush rather than to shoot first and ask question later and have 1 civilian killed, I am not telling you the whole army is doing that, but as far as Professionalism goes, that is the Policy the Army have for us, and individually, they may not act according to this SOP, that does not mean the whole Army are going to be unprofessional, at the same time, the navy have to hold fire until they can see it is a threat, otherwise, the reputation of being a professional naval officer is at risk, if they can just launch missile to any target willy-nilly.

That's what this incident entail, not how good the Captain pilot their ship, not how fast the Captain can run from A to B. Because it was always duty bound for the captain to look after everything, and just because he is a navy captain, that does not mean he is an exceptional ship captain, again, at the end of the day, he was trained to fight, not getting pay to drive a destroyer from A to B....

 

[forsigmar]

http://www.militarycorruption.com/USSMcCain.htm

SPECIAL REPORT

ANOTHER NAVY DESTROYER RAMMED AT SEA BY
MERCHANT VESSEL - USS JOHN S. McCAIN HIT
AND HEAVILY DAMAGED - TEN SAILORS MISSING
INCIDENT TOOK PLACE NEAR MALACCA STRAIT
OFF SINGAPORE - WHAT ARE THE ODDS ON THIS
HAPPENING AGAIN? - USS FITZGERALD IN VERY
VERY SIMILAR TRAGEDY JUST TWO MONTHS AGO

© 2017 MilitaryCorruption.com

What the hell is going on here?

If you were a Las Vegas odds maker, what kind of bets would you have gotten if you took wagers on another USS Fitzgerald tragedy taking place in less than two months, the same type of warship, the same type of collision with an ocean-going merchant vessel and virtually same death toll?

Yet it happened. And ten sailors from the McCain are missing (and can be presumed dead). The Fitzgerald (see related stories box below) was similarly rammed and heavily damaged. Berthing areas aboard both tin cans were crushed, flooding the compartments with sea water.

The Navy says five crew members on the McCain were injured, but no word on whether or not the skipper of the Aegis-class guided missile destroyer was in his cabin at the time of impact, like in the case of sister ship Fitzgerald.

DISASTER TIME AT SEVENTH FLEET

After a disaster like this happening, it is an absolute nightmare for the Navy brass to have to investigate what has to be an incredible coincidence, if it is that at all. Heads will roll, just like on the Fitzgerald, when the captain, XO and other crewmembers were fired.

The Straits of Malacca near Singapore, where the latest collision occurred, is a heavily-traveled area, but with all the radar and extensive detection equipment on board the USS McCain, to say nothing of actual lookouts and the duty officer on the bridge, it boggles the mind to think that an American warship can be rammed again in such a manner.

Few details have been released so far, however, we do know that the incident took place around 0530 hours local time. That means there would have been some degree of visibility, no matter how minor, even at that early hour. So how does a destroyer get rammed by a merchant ship without any warning or ability to undertake evasive action?

With the ongoing scandal of the "Fat Leonard" bribery case in the headlines, and now this, we can't recall the U.S. Navy in a worse crisis since the days of the Vietnam war.

 

[jhungary]

USS John McCain destroyer: Who's at fault when ships collide?
By Michael Troy
Posted yesterday at 3:04pmMon 21 Aug 2017, 3:04pm

Photo: The USS John McCain was on its way to Singapore for a routine port visit. (Reuters: US Navy, file)
Related Story: Hunt for 10 sailors missing after US destroyer collides with oil tanker
Related Story: Missing sailors found dead below decks on board stricken US Navy destroyer

Map: Singapore10 sailors missing in waters east of Singapore and the Straits of Malacca, begs the question: whose job is it to stop ships crashing into each other?

The rules for ships at sea are known as the COLREGS or the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.

They apply to all vessels upon the high sea, whether they be sailing yachts, large ships, tankers or Naval ships.

They also apply to inshore waters, such as Sydney Harbour, but local authorities can add their own regulations as well.

The responsibility for complying with the COLREGS falls entirely to the captains of each vessel. There is no overall director of sea traffic — nothing like air traffic control for planes, or traffic cops for the road.

The most important rule is known as Rule 5, which says to avoid collisions:

"Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions".

+-


©Mapbox ©OpenStreetMap Improve this map
Map: The ships collided to the east of Singapore and the Straits of Malacca.


That means the captain and crew on the larger ships should also use any available technology such as radar and long-range scanning.

Once a vessel on a collision course is identified, the basic rules are that the overtaking vessels must keep clear of those in front.

To get technical, that means an overtaking vessel is deemed to be coming from a direction more than 22.5 degrees abaft its beam.

If two ships are in a head-on situation, they each shall alter course to starboard (the right). If they are crossing, the vessel which has the other on its starboard side shall give way.

It is not always clear who has to give way but Rule 8 states the need to "take early and clearly perceivable action". This means a large alteration to course.

When it comes to the crunch, there is a rule that could be described as Catch 22 but is actually Rule 17. It states that if the vessel which should give way does not, the stand-on vessel — or the one that has right of way — is obliged to take immediate action to avoid a collision.

In other words — it does not matter who has right of way, both vessels must be prepared to take action to avoid a collision.

On the open sea, collisions are rare but when they do happen between large vessels they can be catastrophic.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-...yer:-whos-at-fault-when-ships-collide/8827516

 

[Brainsucker]

Well, somebody was right after all. When the USN Destroyer sailed near Chinese Artificial Land, the Chinese was right to warn the Destroyer. Not because of ill will, but because of their goodwill to the USA. Just imagine if that Destroyer hit the land and broken. How much money that the US taxpayer must pay? The good money of US taxpayer should go to Chinese and Indonesian merchants purse, not to pay for repairing this sophisticated Destroyer just because these pointless accident at sea.

I'm not saying that it is pointless to spend those tax money for military. But it's better if they are used to build a new Arleigh Burke Destroyer, not to repair these Destroyers just because they hit something at sea accidentally.