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The Damaged U.S.S. Porter (Photo: U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. Fifth Fleet / Flickr)
The U.S.S. Porter, DDG-78, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, on duty in the vicinity of the Straits of Hormuz, collided with a Japanese tanker last night:
The Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet said the Panamanian-flagged, Japanese-owned bulk oil tanker M/V Otowasan collided with the USS Porter, a guided-missile destroyer, in the early hours of Sunday.
The navy vessel remained able to operate under its own power after the collision, which was not combat-related, the statement added without elaborating on how the accident happened. An investigation was underway.
Photographs released by the U.S. Navy showed a large dent, several meters (yards) high, in the starboard side of the USS Porter just in front of the ship’s superstructure and above the waterline. Personnel hung over the side inspecting the damage.
As noted by blogger, NaCly Dog, at XBRADTC:
Did they have a copy of COLREGs on the bridge?
Ref for the non-OOD qualified: Section II (for vessels in sight of one another)15. Crossing situations
When two power-driven vessels are crossing, the vessel which has the other on the starboard side must give way and avoid crossing ahead of her. The saying is “If to starboard red appear, ’tis your duty to keep clear”.108,000 shaft horsepower, controllable pitch propellers, International traffic separation scheme, and CIC to back you up, and you let a tanker French-kiss your starboard side right in front of the bridge?
This is the most volatile shipping congestion point in the world. Busy as it is, there is no excuse for a collision like this. Ensuing confusion, combined with some random unknown involving Iranian naval units, might have launched an awful error. Awful errors have happened before:
Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on 3 July 1988 as it flew over theStrait of Hormuz at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The aircraft, an Airbus A300B2-203 operated by Iran Air, was flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. While flying in Iranian airspace over Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on its usual flight path, it was destroyed by the United States Navyguided missile cruiser USS Vincennes (CG-49). All 290 onboard including 66 children and 16 crew perished. The incident is ranked ninth among the deadliest disasters in aviation history. It was the highest death toll of any aviation incident in the Indian Ocean and the highest death toll of any incident involving an Airbus A300 anywhere in the world. The Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.
We need the highest level of competence in the Gulf and the Straits.
17 Comments
When I’d first read about this, ET, I shook my head in shame, how does one of our most sophisticated destroyers, armed to the gills with our most advanced radar, actually run into to an Oil Tanker, which is twice the size…? 8-(
There are an awful lot of people, and I am among them, who do not believe that the shooting down of flight 655 was an error.
mfi
The Vincennes, known by its crew as “Roboship,” may have not made an error, and shot down Flight 655 on purpose. I’m agnostic.
And President Bush refused to apologize for our military shooting down the Iranian plane and causing the deaths of hundreds of people. Instead he awarded the US skipper a medal. (Interesting detail I didn’t know: Rogers’ wife’s car exploded in a pipe bomb attack in San Diego several months later. However, the article notes that pipe bombs were a common occurrence in San Diego at the time!)
The Lockerbie bombing, which occurred six months later, is thought by many to have been in retaliation for the downing of Flight 655. So I guess we can thank Capt. Rogers and President Bush for that.
Thank for the interesting article, ET.
No doubt the skipper of the USS Porter will get a medal for bravely refusing to yield right of way to the foreign oil tanker and upholding our sovereignty against international attempts to undermine our way of life with rules and regulations that apply equally to everyone.
2X size?
Skipper was probably driving too fast. And drunk. On power.
“Let’s pass this bus full of old people real close! Hahahahha! CRUNCH! ohshitohshitohshit, what am I gonna tell Ma?”
Excellent report.
Panamanian- and Liberian-flagged ships, licensed by Governments that are overtly operated as puppets by the US, are usually making money for the US: Panama and Liberia let the ships get off without inspections, allowing less expertise, smuggling, overloading, and other illegal activity. Since they are practically US ships, one would assume that the US would keep closer track of where they are.
The 10th Nautical Rule of the Road, the “Law of Prudential Seamanship”, aka the “Law of Gross Tonnage”, basically says “If they’re bigger than you, none of the other rules apply.
This a terrible lapse of responsibility by all involved. It baffles me as to how this could have possibly occurred. Generally, the Captains Standing Night Orders require any vessel within five nautical miles (10 Kyds) to be placed under close observation and for the Capt. to be notified.
As to the case of the USS Vincennes, there is a data recording and extraction function embedded within the Aegis System (with which both Vincennes and Porter are equipped) which allows recreation of all sensor, maneuvering, weapons, and communications data. The PTB know exactly what happened. Additionally, the Capt was not immediately relieved, which tells us that he and his command did not accidentally err. Watch how quickly the Capt of USS Porter loses his command!
Everyone thought the other guy had control of the situation. Someone wasn’t drinking his Redbull.
Overloaded a tanker? I don’t think so. For two reasons:
1. There is a limit to how much crude one can put into a vlcc. Full is full.
2. There must be a space above the oil or the tanks will rupture in heavy seas (this is know to kill the crew).
My experience is the crew (especially the officers who supervise loading) like being alive. The owners of the vlcc favor an undamaged ship as well, for if the tanker is overladen, and is lost, the insurance company and its kind and generous settlement division are not so quick with the payment for the loss.
I find it odd that the captain has not been relieved of duty pending investigation. It makes me wonder if there was an approved reason those ships were that close together. Cargo exchange? Destroyer using the tanker as screen for prying eyes and radar?
Boxturtle (Plot by Navy to raise gas prices and hurt Obama’s re-election?)
The point of impact looks like a crossing of the “T.” In other words, the tanker’s bow slammed the destroyer’s side. My thoughts are that the 2nd tier crew of the destroyer FUCKED up. Look for the US to claim otherwise.
It’s the Panamanian- and Liberian-flagged freighters that may be overloaded. Lots of freighters and tankers are flagged under the two US puppet states, but their owners are rarely if ever from Panama or Liberia.
Surely you can guess, CTuttle. Lapse of discipline. Maybe a little too gung-ho, sleep-deprived, or drunk.
There are many many legitimate criticisms one may make of our military. This is not one of them.
Look at a map. These straits are among the most crowded in the world. Many civilian ships are not properly licensed and their skippers are inadequately trained. This did not happen in the open ocean. Often if one ship acts wrongly the only choices are going aground, suffering a collision, or suffering a bigger collision. I have sailed all around the world and the Straits of Hormuz for a deep draft vessel are the worst.
Was the US Navy at fault? Possibly. Let us wait for more complete information. In the meantime there are far more legitimate criticisms of our government that can be made. Throwing out irresponsible accusations and including the downing of the Iranian airliner which is irrelevant take credibility away from legitimate complaints.
*heh* I’m glad I chose to be a ground-pounder and not a squib in a nuke-powered Sub…! When the Navy recruiter dangled $20k as an enlistment incentive, I’d asked explicitly what kind of ship I’d be serving on, and he’d replied honestly a Sub…!