Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson has said he directed the U.S. Navy to implement an operational pause for all the service branch’s fleets worldwide after an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer collided with a merchant vessel off the coast of Singapore early Monday, DoD News reported Monday.
The collision between the USS John S. McCain destroyer and the Alnic MC tanker that occurred east of the Strait of Malacca and Singapore caused flooding to the communication rooms, berthing, machinery and other compartments due to the damage to warship’s hull.
The operational pause could last for up to two days and seeks to allow fleet commanders to evaluate safety measures in maritime operations, Richardson told reporters at the Pentagon.
Richardson, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2017, said he was “devastated†over the collision and asked Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, to lead a comprehensive review of the incident.
The U.S. 7th fleet reported five injuries and 10 missing Navy sailors as a result of the collision.
The incident came two months after the Navy launched an investigation into the USS Fitzgerald guided missile destroyer’s collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship off the coast of Japan.
