Divers investigating the collision of US navy warship John S. McCain and tanker Alnic MC have discovered some of the 10 missing US Navy sailors inside the guided-missile destroyer, according to data revealed by Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral, Scott Swift.
Equipped with surface supplied air rigs, divers access sealed compartments located in damaged parts of the warship and conduct damage assessments of the hull and flooded areas. The divers found remains inside those sealed compartments.
The Royal Malaysian Navy has reported the discovery of potential remains of another missing McCain Sailor, located while the ship was providing search and rescue assistance east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.
“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families of those Sailors and the families of our Sailors who were injured,” said Commander Swift.
The warship was transiting to Singapore for a routine port visit when the collision occurred on early hours of August 21. The search for the missing sailors has been ongoing since then by US Navy in cooperation with Singapore Navy and Royal Malaysian Navy forces.
The incident will be investigated to determine the facts and circumstances of the collision.
As a US navy official told CNN, the vessel suffered a steering failure while approaching the Strait of Malacca, causing it to collide with the commercial tanker. The collision resulted to flooding of the adjacent compartments on the McCain, including crew berth, machinery and communications rooms.
The incident is similar to an accident in June involving the USS Fitzgerald, which collided with a container ship off Japan and led to the deaths of seven US sailors.
