Navy Ship Collides With Tanker in Gulf

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A U.S. Navy destroyer collided with an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf off
Iraq, slightly injuring four people, the Navy said Sunday.


The USS McCampbell collided with the tanker late Saturday about 30 miles southeast of the Iraqi coastline. Two sailors and two crew members of the tanker were treated for minor injuries at the scene, Navy spokeswoman Lt. Leslie Hullryde said.

No oil was spilled in the collision. Both ships suffered minor damage but were deemed seaworthy.

The oil tanker was flying the flag of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati.

McCampbell, home-ported in San Diego, is one of several coalition forces vessels conducting maritime security operations for southern Iraqi ports. Oil passing through the terminals is the main source of revenue for Iraqi reconstruction.

Saturday's collision was at least the third for a Navy vessel in the Gulf since 2004.

In August 2004, a small traditional Arab sailboat crashed into the USS John F. Kennedy. None of the sailboat's passengers were found.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060326/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_navy_collision

Ships will become trapped in the bottle neck of the Strait of Hormuz.

$100+ oil overnight.

Ah, you did say overnight, though.

Any action against Iran will be the opening act of Petrocollaspe.

Just not at the pump.

unless it was done on purpose, of course.

I imagine the OOD is screwed.
Pretty danged hard to not miss a tanker.

We had standing orders to wake the old man if another ship came within 10,000 yards of us! That was standard on all three destroyers I was on too. The old man on there is toast as is the OOD.

at the gas pump.

You'd think the Navy would have learned where the shipping lanes are by now.

The oil tanker was flying the flag of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati.

Even Dick Nixon before his death warned about becoming involved in a
military conflict in the Mid East .... he said it was a no win game.

But this was just an accident ..... so don't think if we hadn't been there it
wouldn't have happened ........ What about the "good news" from this ship
wreck?

Fox News: "U.S. helps to build underwater reefs for marine life in the Persian Gulf."

and I must go now and see where Kiribate is?

--

A destroyer and an oil tanker are not small. It's not like they're zipping along like an Indy 500 race car, either. I would assume both have radar on board. How can something like this happen? I mean, they would both have to not be paying attention at all... :shrug:

What kind of security do they have around an aircraft carrier? How exactly does a "small traditional Arab sailboat" get anywhere close enough to crash into an aircraft carrier? Especially after the USS Cole bombing.

- Make7

to me. They're in a "war zone" and not watching? WTF? Some security operations - can't even protect their own ship. Sounds like Bush was driving!

"oil passing through the terminals is the main source of revenue for Iraqi reconstruction."

Since when?

:shrug:

something fishy about that