(WASHINGTON) — USS Harry S. Truman, the flagship of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG), collided with the bulk carrier Besiktas-M on Wednesday evening near Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.
The carrier did not experience flooding and the crew did not report injuries, said Cmdr. Tim Gorman, spokesman for U.S. 6th Fleet.
Truman‘s propulsion plants are unaffected. The collision, which occurred at approximately 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday, is under investigation. The damage is above the waterline of the carrier, a Navy official told USNI News. No aircraft aboard the deck were damaged, another Navy official said.
The Harry S. Truman CSG deployed in September 2024 from Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. After exercises in the North Sea, the strike group entered U.S. Central Command in December. Truman and destroyer USS Jason Dunham made a port call to U.S. Naval Support Activity Souda Bay in Greece last week.
Port Said is at the northern tip of the Suez Canal, where it meets the Mediterranean Sea. The position of Truman suggests the carrier was returning to the Red Sea after the port visit to Souda Bay. It’s unclear whether Jason Dunham was sailing with the carrier at the time of the collision.
Based on AIS data, Besiktas-M had just transited the Suez Canal and was bound for the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania. Besiktas-M is more than 550 feet long with a deadweight of 53,000 tons. It’s unclear who owns and manages the ship.
The merchant vessel previously collided with M/V Common Spirit in August 2016 in the Bangladesh port city of Chittagong, according to the ship tracking site Vessel Tracker.
The last known collision between a carrier and a merchant ship was on July 22, 2004, when the former USS John F. Kennedy collided with a small dhow in the Persian Gulf during night helicopter operations. The commander of the carrier was relieved after an initial investigation.
– USNI News
