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An unspecified number of sailors have been found dead in sealed compartments aboard the USS John S. McCain. 10 were reported missing after the McCain collided with a merchant vessel near Singapore. The Malaysian navy also reported finding remains:
Swift said the Malaysian navy, which is conducting a search in the area where the collision took place, has also reported finding remains, but it was not yet clear if they were from the McCain. "We have a report from the Malaysians ... that they have found a body, we are in the process of effecting the transfer of the body," Swift told reporters.
"We are always hopeful that there are survivors. Until we have exhausted any potential of recovering survivors or bodies, the search will continue," he said.
In a statement posted earlier on its website, the Pacific Command said divers equipped with "surface supplied air rigs ... will access sealed compartments located in damaged parts of the ship. Additionally, they will conduct damage assessments of the hull and flooded areas."
Update: U.S. Navy to relieve Seventh Fleet commander after collisions in Asia
Previously: 10 Sailors Still Missing After U.S. Destroyer Collision With Oil Tanker
(Score: 3, Redundant) by Grishnakh on Wednesday August 23 2017, @01:40PM (4 children)
Today, there should also be traffic position logs for many encounters in congested waters.
Ais, augmented with the navy's electronic records should provide these details.
The Navy doesn't use AIS. They might receive it, but they generally keep its transmitter turned off. It's a big reason they keep getting in these accidents: merchant ships can't see them until they're in visual distance.
What did these ships do in the last dozen times they were in a crowded shipping lane?
The probably bumbled around and made a mess, and the merchant ships did the best they could to avoid hitting them. This time, they weren't so lucky.
Also, are there any adjustments to commercial shipping lanes which would help the overall situation?
Keep US Navy ships out of them? Even other NATO countries' Navies consider the US Navy boat pilots to be a bunch of amateurs, and give them a lot of extra room because they're so erratic (as said by a Canadian navy officer on another site).
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday August 23 2017, @05:06PM (3 children)
Here's the comment I referred to above:
https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11022975&cid=55067161 [slashdot.org]
and a recent comment by the same officer:
https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11022975&cid=55067161 [slashdot.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23 2017, @06:02PM (1 child)
It sounds like we are on the same line of reasoning.
You seem to know of specific problems which simply should not be.
I don't know for sure what the problems are, but it seems likely that there are some.
What bugged me was that the CNO's statement seemed like navy business as usual.
After what appears to be 17 unnecessary deaths,
repeating the usual accident procedure and expecting a different outcome seems unfortunate.
On the other hand, if there was an outside actor, then looking in detail at the manouvering over time seems likely to find that as well.
On AIS, it looked like the event caused at least 2 other ships to change heading.
As a basic point of seamanship, is it a good idea to do something are requires evasive action from other ships.
Maybe there is no other way to cross the sea lane?
It seems if you are going to need other ships to cooperate inorder for you to proceed, then they need to know about the plan.
If AIS emissions were off, then that leaves ship to ship comms.
Would a navy bridge usually talk to other ships before steering into such a position?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23 2017, @06:49PM
"Would a navy bridge usually talk to other ships before steering into such a position?"
Normally, yes. A properly-run Navy ship always "guards" maritime VHF voice frequencies, especially in traffic and entering/leaving harbor. Many times on the bridge of my cruiser we "hailed" nearby merchies on the correct frequencies, to no avail. The OOD would just conn the ship safely around these zombies.
As to the training and discipline of these particular bridge watches I cannot comment.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday August 23 2017, @06:16PM
Crap, I inserted the wrong link. The first one should be:
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=8186211&cid=50752281 [slashdot.org]