U.S. Aircraft Carrier Collides With Cargo Ship In Middle East

The U.S. Navy said on Thursday that a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was involved in a collision with a large cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea this week.

“The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M at approximately 11:46 p.m. local time, Feb. 12, while operating in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea,” the U.S. Sixth Fleet said in a statement.

“The collision did not endanger the Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) as there are no reports of flooding or injuries,” the statement continued. “The propulsion plants are unaffected and in a safe and stable condition.”

Navy officials said they have launched an investigation into the incident and will release more information as it becomes available.

The USS Harry S. Truman, named after America’s 33rd president, was the eighth aircraft carrier built in the Nimitz class.

The aircraft carrier was built in the 1990s under President Bill Clinton and cost $4.5 billion — well over $10 billion today.

The U.S. Naval Institute noted that the ship deployed in September from Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia to the U.S. Central Command.

The report said in part:

Port Said, Egypt, is at the northern tip of the Suez Canal, where it meets with the Mediterranean Sea. The indications from the position of Truman was the carrier was returning to the Red Sea after a port visit to Souda Bay, Greece.

Based on AIS data, Besiktas-M had just transited the Suez Canal and was bound for the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania. Besiktas-M, a bulk carrier, is more than 550 feet long with a deadweight of 53,000 tons. The ship’s owner and manager was not immediately clear.

The last time that a U.S. aircraft carrier collided with a merchant vessel was in 2004, when the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) collided with a small ship in the Persian Gulf, the report said.