Navy head to call for fleet-wide navigation safety review


Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson is planning to announce a fleet-wide navigation safety review in light of the destroyer John S. McCain’s at-sea collision Monday with a oil tanker near Singapore, according to a source familiar with internal deliberations.

Ten sailors remained missing as of 10 a.m. east coast time Monday, and five sustained non-life threatening injuries in the collision, which happened in a high-traffic area just east of the Malacca Straits.

It was the second such at-sea disaster for the Navy’s 7th Fleet this summer. A merchant vessel struck the destroyer Fitzgerald on June 17, opening a massive gash in its side that flooded living quarters and led to the drowning deaths of seven sailors. [link to www.navytimes.com]