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Tanker 20 % responsible for collision with destroyer in 2017

A New York court has ruled that the 'Alnic Mc' was 20 % and the USS 'John S. Mclain' 80 % responsible for the collision of the ships on Aug 21, 2017. Following a non-jury trial in Nov. 2021, Paul Crotty, U.S. District Judge in Manhattan, ruled that the tanker was partially responsible for the collision. In this week's ruling, the owner of the tanker must pay $44.6 million, due to its role in the accident, which killed 10 sailors and injured many others. Energetic Tank, which court papers say has an office in Monrovia, Liberia, claimed the U.S. was responsible for the collision, which caused damage of $185 million to the navy ship and $442,445 to the tanker. The U.S. conceded that the naval ship held some blame, but that the 'Alnic Mc' also played a role. Subject to objections, a second trial will allocate the money to victims and their families. 41 wrongful death or personal injury claims have also been filed. The probable cause of the collision was "a lack of effective operational oversight of the destroyer by the U.S. Navy, which resulted in insufficient training and inadequate bridge operating procedures," the National Transportation Safety Board has said, recommending appropriate safety measures be put in place.

Destroyer back in service three years after collision with Alnic MC

Three years after the fatal collision with the 'Alnic MC', the Navy Destroyer USS 'John McCain' is ready to deploy again. The Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer is preparing to lead a nearly all-new crew back out to sea aboard one of two Navy ships that experienced fatal 2017 collisions in the Pacific. The 'John McCain' completed its basic phase certification this month, which means it can - for the first time since the Aug. 21, 2017, accident near Singapore - be tasked for work in the Asia-Pacific region. It is a significant milestone for the Navy, which has in recent years suffered a breakdown in the trust of those leading the service. The guided-missile destroyer USS 'Fitzgerald', which weeks before the ''John McCain's accident was involved in a separate deadly collision off the coast of Japan, left a Mississippi shipyard this weekend to head to its new homeport in San Diego. The 'John McCain's crew has spent the last 25 weeks completing extensive training after years' worth of repairs and maintenance to get the ship up and running again. The crew was evaluated in 23 areas, including several the Navy found needed serious improvement after the back-to-back 2017 collisions. Changes since were including revised individual and unit training, updated career paths and practices, and renewed focus on professional seamanship and navigation. The 'John McCain', like other ships, will also have a circadian watch bill onboard, to ensure the crew is getting enough rest which was a big shortfall identified in the investigations into the 2017 ship collisions. The Navy also overhauled its ship navigation training after the accidents, significantly ramping up the amount of time sailors spend in simulators before getting to ships. The way the Navy trained officers and sailors to operate at sea, much of which was previously done through distance learning, came under intense scrutiny following the collisions. Before the crew even started their basic phase, they had more than 200 hours of simulated training. Using the high-tech Navigation, Seamanship and Shiphandling Trainer, Easterday said the McCain crew was able to practice underway replenishments and high-traffic scenarios. Investigators found one primary cause of the 'John McCain's collision was "leaderships' loss of situational awareness in a high-traffic area." Before it was certified to rejoin the fleet, the 'John McCain's crew faced a high-stress test to ensure it was ready to rejoin the fleet.

NTSB determined probable causes of fatal ship collision in Aug 21, 2017

The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that the Aug. 21, 2017, collision between the USS John S McCain and the tanker Alnic MC was caused by insufficient training, inadequate bridge operating procedures and a lack of operational oversight. Ten sailors aboard the John S McCain died in the accident and 48 were injured when the ships collided in the Middle Channel passage of the Singapore Strait Traffic Separation Scheme. There were no injuries to the crew of the Alnic MC. Property damage resulting from the collision exceeded $1.2 M. There was no report of pollution associated with the accident. The collision happened when the John S McCain, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer with a crew of 280, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, and the Alnic MC, a Liberian-flagged chemical tanker carrying a partial load of cargo with a crew of 24, were transiting towards Singapore in the westbound lane of the Singapore Strait Traffic Separation Scheme. The Singapore Strait is one of the busiest waterways in the world, with more than 83,700 vessels of more than 300 gross tons transiting the strait in 2016.