USS Newport News Collides With Oil Tanker

The USS Newport News, a Norfolk,Va.based submarine collided with a Japanese oil tanker late Monday night. The Navy was reporting that all 127 members of the USS Newport News crew were fine and no one on the Japanese ship Mogamikawa was hurt. The collision happened in the busy shipping lanes of the Straits of Hormuz in the Arabian Sea. According to reports, the Navy says there was some damage to the submarine but the propulsion plant was not affected.

The Navy confirmed that no nuclear fuel leaked from the submarine. The Navy said USS Newport News was transiting submerged at the time of the collision, but some reports indicate it was surfacing at the time. The tanker is operated by Japanese Shipping Company Kawasaki Kisen Limited. The vessel was able to continue on to a nearby port in the United Arab Emirates. USS Newport News is part of Submarine Squadron 8 at Naval Station Norfolk. The nuclear powered submarine is currently on a regularly scheduled deployment conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea. Source: WTKR