The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman crashed into a large merchant vessel near Port Said in Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea, according to a statement from the US Navy
An aircraft carrier has collided with a large vessel in the Mediterranean.
The US Navy’s Sixth Fleet said in a statement: “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 incident was a rare collision of two large vessels. The 100,000-tonne aircraft carrier is understood to have hit the 53,000-tonne merchant ship Besiktas-M, a Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel.
The collision is now under investigation. There have been no reports of injuries and there is no reported flooding aboard the aircraft carrier.
The Harry S. Truman has an estimated crew of about 5,000 sailors. It is also powered by two- nuclear reactors as well as four propulsion systems, according to ABC News.
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Cmdr. Timothy Gorman, a spokesperson for the US Sixth Fleet, added the collision did not endanger the Truman. “There are no reports of flooding or injuries,” he added.
“The propulsion plants are unaffected and in a safe and stable condition. The incident is under investigation. More information will be released as it becomes available.”
The vessel had been recently operating in the Red Sea where it had been deployed as part of protecting shipping lanes from attacks by Houthi rebels operating in Yemen.
