The aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) was involved in a collision with a merchant ship this week while operating near Egypt, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. 6th Fleet.
“The collision did not pose a threat to the Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), as there have been no reports of flooding or injuries. The propulsion systems are unaffected and remain safe and stable. The incident is under investigation. More information will be released as it becomes available,” Cmdr. Timothy Gorman said in a statement today.
The incident occurred on February 12 at 11:46 PM local time, in the vicinity of Port Said.
Open-source websites tracking global maritime traffic through Automatic Identification System (AIS) data indicate that the merchant vessel, Besiktas-M, is a bulk carrier operating under the Panama flag.
Since the October 2023 attack on Israel, U.S. Navy strike groups have been circulating in and out of the Mediterranean and Red Seas, tasked with both assisting in the defense of the U.S. ally and attempting to maintain secure shipping lanes for commercial transport.
Although the Pentagon reports no injuries or flooding aboard the Truman, any time a U.S. Navy vessel is involved in a collision, it immediately triggers investigations not only within the Department of Defense but also among lawmakers, according to Euronews.
In 2022, the submarine Connecticut (SSN-22) was involved in a collision—when a ship strikes a stationary object, in contrast to a collision between two moving vessels.
An investigation later attributed that accident to a “cumulative series of errors and omissions at the unit level in navigation planning; execution by the crew; and risk management.”
Before that, in 2017, the Navy came under intense scrutiny from Capitol Hill and the public when two of its destroyers separately collided with merchant ships while at sea, resulting in the deaths of 17 sailors.
Follow-up investigations into those incidents revealed that the ship crews were undertrained and sleep-deprived.
