(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Navy ships worldwide will suspend operations for a day or two this week to examine basic seamanship and teamwork after Monday's collision involving USS John S. McCain and a tanker off the coast of Singapore, The New York Times reported.
Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, said he had ordered two major actions after the collision between the guided-missile destroyer and the 600-foot Alnic MC. Ten U.S. sailors are missing and five others were injured. It was the second collision of a Navy destroyer with a large commercial ship in two months.
First, Richardson said he ordered an “operational pause” for Navy fleet commanders to review teamwork, safety, seamanship and other “fundamentals” aboard all 277 Navy vessels. Commanders will space out the review to avoid hampering operations, like the war games in South Korea that started on Monday.
Second, the admiral said, he ordered a broader, months-long review to examine the specific problems with the Navy’s 7th Fleet, based in Japan, as the Navy has suffered four major ship accidents in the western Pacific since February.
Click here to read the story.
